Two more energy providers go under

Ofgem appointed Yu Energy to take on the supply to customers of the two firms through its supplier of last resort process. These businesses are among the more than 20 energy suppliers to have left the market since the start of 2021, with a lot of smaller suppliers being heavily hit by the current gas price crisis. 

This has led to wholesale gas prices in the UK reaching as high as 450p per therm just before Christmas. It resulted in back-to-back record increases in the energy price cap, first rising from £1,138 to £1,277 for those on default tariffs at the start of October, with it increasing to £1,971 at the start of April this year. 

Ofgem recently introduced two time-limited measures to help stabilise the energy market. All suppliers will have to offer existing customers the same deals available to new customers. 

This move is designed to ensure customers can benefit from all tariffs available in the market and enable more consumers to benefit when wholesale prices fall. 

Suppliers will also be required to pay a Market Stabilisation Charge to the losing supplier when acquiring a new customer, which will only be triggered if wholesale prices fall considerably below the level assumed in the price cap.