London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Two more UK energy firms go bust as prices soar

Two more UK energy firms go bust as prices soar

Two more UK energy firms have ceased trading amid soaring wholesale energy prices.

Pure Planet, which is backed by oil giant BP, and Colorado Energy join a number of small energy firms that have gone bust recently.

Pure Planet said it had been caught between rising costs and the UK's energy price cap, which limits what companies can charge consumers.

This had left its business "unsustainable", it said.

Customers of both companies will be moved to new suppliers.

Pure Planet and Colorado Energy are the latest casualties of a global spike in gas prices.

Pure Planet supplies gas and electricity to around 235,000 domestic customers, while Colorado Energy supplies gas and electricity to around 15,000 domestic customers.

Energy regulator Ofgem will now find a new supplier for those customers, who are asked to do nothing until the transfer takes place in the coming weeks.

Today's developments bring the number of customers affected by the current wave of energy company collapses across the UK to around two million.

Ofgem said on Wednesday that the unprecedented increase in global gas prices in recent weeks was putting financial pressure on suppliers.

"Ofgem's number one priority is to protect customers," said Neil Lawrence, director of retail at Ofgem.

"We know this is a worrying time for many people and news of a supplier going out of business can be unsettling.

"I want to reassure affected customers that they do not need to worry: under our safety net we'll make sure your energy supplies continue."

Mr Lawrence added that if customers have credit, the funds are protected, so customers will not lose the money that is owed to them.

Energy supply business 'unsustainable'
Pure Planet said it had lost its backing from oil giant BP

Pure Planet said that the government and Ofgem expect it "to sell energy at a price much less than it currently costs to buy".

"This is unsustainable, and therefore, sadly we have had to make the difficult decision to cease trading," it said.

"In our case, despite being hedged until next spring, and having had the backing of BP, Pure Planet faced increasing risks and large potential losses by continuing to operate in this market," Pure Planet said in a separate statement.

"Sadly, this led to BP taking a decision to withdraw its support and we are no longer able to continue."

BP said it had worked to support Pure Planet and give financial support through wholesale supply and other funding arrangements.

"However, despite considerable work over an extended period, we concluded it is no longer commercially viable for BP to continue this relationship and took this difficult decision," a BP spokesperson said.

Price cap


Nine suppliers collapsed in September, but business and energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng has ruled out supporting struggling energy firms. Last week, he said more companies could collapse.

The regulator's price cap, which covers 15 million households across England, Wales and Scotland, protects customers on default tariffs by limiting charges including how much customers pay per unit of energy.

But providers say they can't pass on rising costs to customers because of the cap.

Suppliers that have recently gone bust include Avro Energy, People's Energy and Green Supplier Limited.

Rising prices have had reverberations throughout the supply chain.

BBC Newsnight reported on Wednesday evening that gas shipping firm CNG has written to its energy supplier customers saying that it will no longer supply the wholesale market.


CNG supplies roughly 46,000 small businesses, including 10-15 small domestic energy suppliers, through their wholesale business.

Newsnight economics editor Ben Chu tweeted that CNG had recently had to supply gas to households without being paid by suppliers that have failed, including Utility Point and Avro Energy.

This has caused a significant amount of financial damage to CNG, Mr Chu said.

CNG leaving the market will put further pressure on small UK energy firms and could speed up their collapse, he added.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×