The collapse of Bulb is more proof that privatisation has been a costly and dismal failure for consumers
News earlier this week that Bulb Energy is to go into special administration is the latest episode in a period of unprecedented financial strain in the UK’s energy sector. Like the other 22 energy suppliers that have collapsed since August, Bulb has been squeezed between rising wholesale gas prices and the cap set by Ofgem – the energy regulator – on the amount it can charge consumers.
But Bulb’s failure is particularly significant because of the size of its customer base. Supplying about 1.7 million households and businesses, it is the seventh largest gas supplier in the UK. The company’s failure exposes long-running dysfunctions in the energy sector that must be addressed if the country is to build a more resilient energy system for the future.
Joseph Baines and Sandy Hager are senior lecturers in international political economy at King’s College London and City, University of London respectively
