London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Energy crisis: Ofgem faces legal hearing over bust suppliers' millions

Energy crisis: Ofgem faces legal hearing over bust suppliers' millions

A case involving top insolvency practitioners could determine Ofgem's right to rank as a senior creditor in the insolvencies of dozens of energy companies.

The energy regulator's ability to claim hundreds of millions of pounds from the remnants of collapsed suppliers is facing a legal intervention brought by top insolvency professionals.

Sky News has learnt that three leading firms of administrators are seeking a court ruling to determine where Ofgem should rank as a creditor in the collapses of a trio of gas and electricity companies.

City sources said that a directions hearing due to take place in London on Thursday would be of "huge importance" in determining whether billpayers face yet higher costs at a time of already-soaring prices.

The three insolvency practitioners - Alvarez & Marsal, Grant Thornton and Teneo Restructuring - are understood to be seeking a determination on Ofgem's rights to claim outstanding Renewables Obligation Certificate payments from administrators.

Ofgem is the regulator for the UK' energy sector


More than two dozen suppliers have gone bust since last August, forcing millions of UK households to switch energy suppliers.

The largest, Bulb Energy, fell into a regime called special administration, meaning it was taken over by the government and funded by taxpayers until its assets can be sold.

All of the other collapsed suppliers - the largest of which was Avro Energy, with more than 500,000 customers - became insolvent, with their customer bases taken on under a mechanism known as the Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR).

Insiders said on Wednesday that this week's court hearing was also likely to determine whether the energy companies that had taken on customers through the SOLR system were entitled to file claims for customer balances.

Ofgem is understood to be a participant in the hearing, while British Gas, which is owned by Centrica, is also said to have been involved in the proceedings at an earlier stage.

The hearing is significant because it could set a precedent for how Ofgem is treated as a creditor in the insolvency proceedings of many of the more than 25 suppliers which have failed in the last six months.

Any direction issued by the court could therefore have an impact on whether Ofgem has the right to claim sums estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds or whether those costs might have to be absorbed by the rest of the sector.

One source said the need for the legal hearing highlighted a major gap in Britain's energy sector regulation and said that those who devised it had failed to take into account the possibility of a large number of supplier failures.

On Wednesday, Ofgem said it would introduce two short-term measures in an attempt to help stabilise the UK retail energy market.

The regulator will force suppliers to offer existing customers the same tariffs as new ones, while suppliers will also have to pay peers a charge when they take on one of their customers, but only if wholesale energy prices fall sharply.

"Alongside tougher financial regulation, this will make sure that energy companies do not take disproportionate financial risks and suppliers who have done the right thing by purchasing energy in advance for their customers aren't penalised," an Ofgem spokesperson said.

The rise in gas and electricity charges, which will see the industry cap on average household prices soar by more than 50% to a maximum of £1,971 in April, has sparked urgent government intervention.

Earlier this month, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, announced a £350-per-household support package to tackle the rising energy prices - a move that was criticised both as inadequate and poorly targeted.

Ofgem itself has been stung by criticism from a multitude of stakeholders about its handling of the crisis.

Jonathan Brearley, the watchdog's chief executive, told MPs this month that it should have been "more careful" about the financial resilience of new suppliers entering the market.

Some industry observers now expect the government to seek to reform or abolish Ofgem in its current form ahead of the next general election.

Centrica did not respond to several requests for comment about Thursday's court hearing, while the three sets of administrators all declined to comment.

Ofgem told Sky News: "We do not comment on ongoing legal proceedings".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×