EDF has been selected as the Supplier of Last Resort for Utility Point’s 220,000 domestic customers after the latter collapsed last week.
Ofgem announced the French energy giant had been chosen following a competitive process to find the best deal possible for the customers.
Utility Point ceased trading on 14 September on the same date Scottish supplier People’s Energy shuttered its operations. They were the latest small suppliers to succumb to the pressure of the energy market, and hot on the heels of PfP Energy and MoneyPlus Energy, which collapsed the week prior. British Gas was chosen as the supplier for the customers of the latter two companies.
Over recent years, small suppliers have struggled with 2021 also seeing Hub Energy, Green Network Energy and Simplicity Energy and 2020 seeing Yorkshire Energy, Tonik Energy, Effortless Energy and GnERGY close.
Wholesale power prices are particularly high at the moment putting additional stress on suppliers, as record high gas prices, low winds and outages – including the IFA interconnector, which suffered a major fire and will be down until March 2022 – drive up power costs.
Even larger suppliers are feeling the pinch, with Bulb – which commands 6% of the market share – beginning a search for additional funding to help see it through this tight period.
Recent research from Baringa has suggested that 39 more suppliers could fail in the next 12 months, which would leave just 10 in the market.