Half a million homes given new energy after two more collapsed | UK news

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About half a million homes will be transferred to a new energy supplier after Utility Point and People’s Energy became the latest energy companies to go bankrupt amid record energy market prices.

The latest losses bring the total number of failed energy suppliers to seven in the past year, including five over the past five weeks, as the market price of gas and electricity reached an all-time high.

Bournemouth-based Utility Point has supplied gas and electricity to 220,000 homes, while London-based People Energy has supplied gas and electricity to 350,000 homes and about 1,000 non-domestic customers. In total, about 2 million people were affected by the failure of the seven suppliers.

The regulator, Ofgem, will appoint new suppliers to confront households and businesses stranded by recent market failures through a “safety net” process that protects outstanding credit balances from customers.

Neil Lawrence, retail director of Ofgem, said it “may be disconcerting” to hear that one energy supplier has gone out of business but that customers don’t have to worry.

“Ofgem will select a new supplier for you, and while we do so, our advice is to wait until we appoint a new supplier and not switch in the meantime. You can rely on your power supply as usual.

The recent crashes come less than a week after PfP Energy and MoneyPlus Energy ceased trading, leaving nearly 100,000 customers without a resource. Ofgem has since appointed British Gas to take over the accounts of clients from the two failed companies.

Hub Energy was the first energy supplier to go bankrupt as market prices hit record levels. Summons in mid-August, the regulator appointed E.ON Next, a division of E.ON UK, to take 17,000 customers from Hub within days.

Record market prices in recent weeks are expected to lead to higher household energy bills through 2022, rising levels of fuel poverty and the collapse of many small energy suppliers.

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