Bulb to be Nationalised?

[Deleted User]

Was anyone privy to this discussion about Bulb in Parliament yesterday? Interesting, if long.

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2021-11-24a.353.0&p=10185

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said: How many thousands of consumers have followed the herd and switched to the cheapest supplier without giving a thought to the company’s financial standing - knowing that come-what-may their supply and credit balance would be assured?

I think that's a bit unfair. Surely there is a natural feeling that accounts vetting and assessment would, or should, have been done by someone higher up the food chain than the customer, before supply licences were granted. Furthermore, how many commission earning switching sites, including this one, were actively encouraging consumers to switch to save money. And not just once, but repeatedly, so it was very easy to become locked into a constant switching cycle. That was when the switch was voluntary - of late, the switches have become involuntary. 

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

My sympathies lie with the high number of consumers that have never switched from the original Big 6 who now face the additional costs of supplier failures, which includes consumer credits, being added to their bills. 

And with Bulb, apparently all taxpayers will cop for a share. A double whammy for some. 

Non-switching may have been a conscious decision for some. Conversely, it may just have been apathy. As I say, plenty of encouragement was going on. 

QrizB

Deleted_User said:

Dolor said:

My sympathies lie with the high number of consumers that have never switched from the original Big 6 who now face the additional costs of supplier failures, which includes consumer credits, being added to their bills.

And with Bulb, apparently all taxpayers will cop for a share. A double whammy for some.

Most UK taxpayers have UK energy accounts, one way or another. So whether the UK Govt pays, or the money is claimed back by a levy on bills, it's going to end up with us. At least if it's done via taxes, on the whole it will be paid by the better-off rather than the worse-off.

[Deleted User]

QrizB said:

Deleted_User said:

Dolor said:

My sympathies lie with the high number of consumers that have never switched from the original Big 6 who now face the additional costs of supplier failures, which includes consumer credits, being added to their bills.

And with Bulb, apparently all taxpayers will cop for a share. A double whammy for some.

Most UK taxpayers have UK energy accounts, one way or another. So whether the UK Govt pays, or the money is claimed back by a levy on bills, it's going to end up with us. At least if it's done via taxes, on the whole it will be paid by the better-off rather than the worse-off.

The cost of Bulb’s failure is to be passed onto energy suppliers.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10243573/Bills-soar-60-year-pay-failure-Bulb-government-covers-1-7billion-cost.html

dbks

Dolor said:

QrizB said:

Deleted_User said:

Dolor said:

My sympathies lie with the high number of consumers that have never switched from the original Big 6 who now face the additional costs of supplier failures, which includes consumer credits, being added to their bills.

And with Bulb, apparently all taxpayers will cop for a share. A double whammy for some.

Most UK taxpayers have UK energy accounts, one way or another. So whether the UK Govt pays, or the money is claimed back by a levy on bills, it's going to end up with us. At least if it's done via taxes, on the whole it will be paid by the better-off rather than the worse-off.

The cost of Bulb’s failure is to be passed onto energy suppliers.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10243573/Bills-soar-60-year-pay-failure-Bulb-government-covers-1-7billion-cost.html

Nope. Have you read the article?

"Household bills could soar by £60-a-year to pay for failure of energy supplier Bulb as government covers £1.7billion cost to keep lights on for its customers"

Nick Ferrari made an interesting point about this type of headline either this morning or yesterday morning.

He said it was a complete waste of copy and meaningless (or something along those lines)

"Would've, could've, should've..." he went on, before moving onto a more sensible topic to discuss.

Briefly skimming this Daily Mail report, there are numerous areas where it certainly fits the bill made by Nick Ferrari.

EssexHebridean

As soon as I spotted that was a Daily Fail article I didn’t even bother clicking as I figured it would be sensationalised and scaremongering - it’s a safe bet to assume theirs always are. 

[Deleted User]

Putting to one side the cost of the failure, there is a certain truth that the cost will be passed on to consumers as per past supplier failures. I do not believe that the fact that Bulb will be managed under SAR will change this practice.

MWT

Dolor said:

Putting to one side the cost of the failure, there is a certain truth that the cost will be passed on to consumers as per past supplier failures. I do not believe that the fact that Bulb will be managed under SAR will change this practice.

The SAR does shift costs to the tax-payer rather than onto energy bills unlike the SoLR process.

Specifically under the SAR regime... "The Secretary of State can make grants and loans to the company in administration and may also give guarantees for any sum borrowed while it is in administration."

All of that is of course still our money as tax payers, but it doesn't cause a massive increase in the amount being passed back via the energy bills.

The final disposition of the customers could still involve a SoLR process at some point in the future, if and when that happens then the costs related to that would end up on the energy bills, but not the direct costs of keeping Bulb running for now.

[Deleted User]

'Bulb revealed the £1,277 per year price cap limited customer charges to 70p per therm, even though it cost the battered energy supplier £4 per therm to provide for customers.' (City AM)

Ouch.

'The government is now set to support Bulb and its administrators Teneo with £1.7bn in public money over the next six months until a buyer can be found for the firm and its 1.7m customers.

Industry leaders such as Scottish Power CEO Keith Anderson and Utilita Energy founder Bill Bullen have both called for the price cap to be reformed, while Utility Warehouse described the situation as a mess in its recent results update.

Even the architect of the price cap, John Penrose MP, has pushed for it to be overhauled.

He said the pricing measure had “completely failed” and was the “wrong type of price cap”.'