Bulb Energy has gone pop

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Apparently the advice is to sit tight, don't switch or cancel your DD.

Sadly, I'm one of Bulb's customers (was!)
 
Why not cancel direct debit? If a company is going into administration or going bust, I wouldn't want them to have unfettered access to my account.

Stopping direct debit would be first thing I'd do. As for not jumping ship, why the hell not.

Imagine if your bank was about to go t1ts up, would you be so willing to take the advice of sit tight!

Remember that the little individual at the end if the chain that pays continually to these companies is always the one at the back of the queue to get money back when they fold.

If a company has been so badly run as to face administration, the last thing I would want is advice to sit and wait with my thumb up my proverbial, hoping all will be rosy again. I bet wealthy investors and fund managers got wind of company troubles a while ago, so withdrew their investments pretty smartish, which through them over the edge into administration.
 
I think it's because if you sit tight they have to switch you to the standard rate. If you voluntarily move then you go onto a higher tarrif.
 
Sit tight. The administration scheme is government run so your current rates and any credit you have are protected.

No other company is accepting customers, and even if they were it would be at a far higher rate.

It's frustrating as we're electricity-only customers of Bulb as they are 100% renewable, but they've been brought down by the rise in wholesale gas prices which have risen from 50p/therm 12 months ago to around £4.00/therm now.

As Bulb is wound down, all customers will be moved to other suppliers but we all will end up paying more.
 
I think in Bulb's case it was pursuing on overly ambitious expansion plan without enough investment. There were rumblings back in the summer that the company was badly placed after moving into US markets.
 
The are not the only supplier to advertise this (mine's Octopus). I wonder where they get all their renewable electricity from when there's no wind and sunshine?:unsure:
It all comes and goes via National Grid What we do | National Grid Group but what we pay extra for green tariff goes towards supporting green suppliers and paying the cost differential.
 
Octopus have wind farms in the North Sea. I live next to the N Sea and it's always windy. Never heard of anyone being becalmed off the Skagerrack ⛵
 
When suppliers fail, ofgem normally broker a seamless transfer to a new supplier. It can take a while for credit balances to get sorted, but they do.

Bulb is different, it is so big that the regulator is going to run it directly for a while until it finds takers for all 1.7 million customers. Seems likely that they will use Bulb staff and systems for now - except the Directors of course. Bit like when LNER failed, customers saw no difference for ages apart from branding.

I would keep dd etc. going and sit tight, but it would be wise to read and ideally photograph your meters and look at your online account if you still can and take screenshots of balances. Just in case there is a dispute later.

To put it in context, Bulb has almost as many customers as the total customers of all supplier failures to date. 1.7m makes it about 6% of all UK households so the regulator will work hard to get it right.

The real worry is that if a proper big supplier like Bulb has failed (unlike some of the tiny 'chancers' in the market) who will be next and is any company safe? Bit like 2009 when we effectively had to nationalise the banks, will we have to nationalise some of the big suppliers so the lights stay on?
 
......Bit like 2009 when we effectively had to nationalise the banks, will we have to nationalise some of the big suppliers so the lights stay on?
Should never have been sold off in the first place - a completely pointless ideological exercise.
 
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Should never have been sold off in the first place - a completely pointless exercise.
Yes but we are where we are, and the party of privatisation keeps getting re elected so someone must think its a good thing. It's a 40 year old argument.

Fact is, right now it's all private sector and we have to manage the consequences both at a personal and national level.
 
.....

Fact is, right now it's all private sector and we have to manage the consequences both at a personal and national level.
It's only notionally private sector - in reality it's under strict government control. Non of them can be allowed to go bust and close down like a genuinely private sector business.
Good description here of why Bulb fell. Basically just a marketing exercise and completely pointless. ‘Too good to be true’: the rapid rise and costly fall of Bulb Energy
 
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It all comes and goes via National Grid What we do | National Grid Group but what we pay extra for green tariff goes towards supporting green suppliers and paying the cost differential.
I'm well aware of that, but to advertise that the electricity you're using is 100% renewable is bollix.

Incidentally, we already support "green suppliers" - we subsidise them heavily.
 
Non of them can be allowed to go bust and close down like a genuinely private sector business.



Bulb1.7 millionIn Special Administration
November 2021Neon Reef30,000British Gas
November 2021Social Energy5,500British Gas
November 2021CNG41,000Pozitive Energy
November 2021Zebra Power14,800British Gas
November 2021Omni Energy6,000Utilita
November 2021Ampoweruk Limited2,600Yü Energy
November 2021MA Energy300SmartestEnergy Business
November 2021Bluegreen Energy5,900British Gas
October 2021GOTO Energy

October 2021Daligas9,000Shell Energy
October 2021Pure Planet235,000Shell Energy
October 2021Colorado Energy15,000Shell Energy
September 2021Symbio50,000E.ON Next
September 2021Igloo180,000E.ON Next
September 2021Enstroga6,000E.ON Next
September 2021Green350,000Shell Energy
September 2021Avro600,000Octopus
September 2021People's Energy350,000British Gas
September 2021Utility Point200,000EDF

September 2021PFP Energy80,000British Gas
September 2021Moneyplus Energy9000British Gas
August 2021HUB Energy15,000Eon Next
January 2021Simplicity Energy50,000British Gas Evolve
January 2021Green Network Energy367,500EDF
December 2020Yorkshire Energy74,000Scottish Power
October 2020Tonik Energy130,000Scottish Power
September 2020Effortless Energy2,500Octopus
March 2020Gnergy9,000Bulb
December 2019Breeze18,000British Gas

October 2019Toto134,000EDF
October 2019Uttily (Rutherford)280Total gas and power
September 2019Eversmart29,000Utilita
August 2019Solarplicity8,000EDF
August 2019Cardiff Energy Supply Ltd800SSE
March 2019Brilliant17,000SSE (currently SSE OVO)
January 2019Our Power32,000Utilita
January 2019Economy Energy237,000OVO
December 2018One Select33,000Together Energy
November 2018Spark Energy290,000OVO

November 2018Extra Energy108,000Scottish Power
October 2018Usio Energy7,255First Utility (currently Shell)
July 2018Iresa Energy95,000Octopus Energy
July 2018UK National Gas80Hudson Energy
January 2018Future Energy10,000Green Star Energy
November 2016GB Energy160,000Coop Energy


I think they'd disagree with you. :LOL:
 
Bulb1.7 millionIn Special Administration
November 2021Neon Reef30,000British Gas
November 2021Social Energy5,500British Gas
November 2021CNG41,000Pozitive Energy
November 2021Zebra Power14,800British Gas
November 2021Omni Energy6,000Utilita
November 2021Ampoweruk Limited2,600Yü Energy
November 2021MA Energy300SmartestEnergy Business
November 2021Bluegreen Energy5,900British Gas
October 2021GOTO Energy

October 2021Daligas9,000Shell Energy
October 2021Pure Planet235,000Shell Energy
October 2021Colorado Energy15,000Shell Energy
September 2021Symbio50,000E.ON Next
September 2021Igloo180,000E.ON Next
September 2021Enstroga6,000E.ON Next
September 2021Green350,000Shell Energy
September 2021Avro600,000Octopus
September 2021People's Energy350,000British Gas
September 2021Utility Point200,000EDF

September 2021PFP Energy80,000British Gas
September 2021Moneyplus Energy9000British Gas
August 2021HUB Energy15,000Eon Next
January 2021Simplicity Energy50,000British Gas Evolve
January 2021Green Network Energy367,500EDF
December 2020Yorkshire Energy74,000Scottish Power
October 2020Tonik Energy130,000Scottish Power
September 2020Effortless Energy2,500Octopus
March 2020Gnergy9,000Bulb
December 2019Breeze18,000British Gas

October 2019Toto134,000EDF
October 2019Uttily (Rutherford)280Total gas and power
September 2019Eversmart29,000Utilita
August 2019Solarplicity8,000EDF
August 2019Cardiff Energy Supply Ltd800SSE
March 2019Brilliant17,000SSE (currently SSE OVO)
January 2019Our Power32,000Utilita
January 2019Economy Energy237,000OVO
December 2018One Select33,000Together Energy
November 2018Spark Energy290,000OVO

November 2018Extra Energy108,000Scottish Power
October 2018Usio Energy7,255First Utility (currently Shell)
July 2018Iresa Energy95,000Octopus Energy
July 2018UK National Gas80Hudson Energy
January 2018Future Energy10,000Green Star Energy
November 2016GB Energy160,000Coop Energy


I think they'd disagree with you. :LOL:
The point I was making was that the actual supply of services can't be allowed to stop. These failed companies can't just close down and sell off assets like a genuinely private company. They were pointless to start with - only notionally or nominally private.
 
I'm well aware of that, but to advertise that the electricity you're using is 100% renewable is bollix.

Incidentally, we already support "green suppliers" - we subsidise them heavily.
It is 100% if you are paying 100% of the actual cost of green energy, effectively, to all intents and purposes.
 
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