Customers ‘protected’ as household energy supplier exits market | Money News

A domestic energy supplier failed, weeks after it attracted attention from regulators.

Rebel Energy, who has about 80,000 household customers and 10,000 others, was the subject of a preliminary order related to compliance with Renewal Rules energy obligations.

The company’s website said it “stop trading” but gave no reason.

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The industry watchdog ofgem said on Tuesday that those affected by the rebels’ downfall need no action and that it would be “protected”.

Customers, according to Ofgem, would soon be appointed as a new supplier under the provider of the last resort (SOLR) mechanism.

It was widely deployed in 2021 when dozens of energy suppliers collapsed while not having a rise in the wholesale community costs.

The last supplier to be below was in July 2022.

Ofgem said that new rules of suppliers’ business practices have since strengthened resilience.

This includes minimum capital requirements and the Ring of Customers Credit Balances.

The exit from the Bedford-based rebel market was announced on the same day that the energy price base had risen again to take into account the rising wholesale costs between December and January.

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Tim Jarvis, director of General of Markets at Ofgem, said: “Customers of rebels energy do not have to worry, and I would like to reassure them that they will see no disruption of their energy supply, and that any credit they may have on their accounts is protected under the rules of orgem.

“We are working quickly to appoint new suppliers for all affected customers. We will advise customers not to try to switch the supplier in the meantime, and a new supplier will make contact with further information in the coming weeks.

“We have worked hard over the past few years to improve the financial resilience of suppliers and implement a series of rules to make sure they can defend unexpected shocks. But like any competitive market, some companies will still fail from time to time, and our priority is to make sure consumers are protected when it happens.”