UK Inquiry Tracker

Bulb Energy

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 29 Mar 2023 Closed: 14 Feb 2024 Parliament page

Bulb Energy collapsed in the summer of 2021 and was placed in special administration by the government. This was the first time that the government had appointed a special administrator to operate an energy supplier to maintain the supply of energy to customers. In June 2022 the NAO reported on … Read more Bulb Energy collapsed in the summer of 2021 and was placed in special administration by the government. This was the first time that the government had appointed a special administrator to operate an energy supplier to maintain the supply of energy to customers. In June 2022 the NAO reported on the energy supplier market, and noted that £0.9bn had been spent by government on running Bulb through the special administration regime in 2021-22. In October 2022, following a sale process, Octopus Energy was identified as the acquirer of Bulb’s customers, business assets and liabilities, including customer credit balances. In November 2022 the government obtained court approval for the transaction agreement with Octopus. Three energy companies commenced legal proceedings relating to this agreement. Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the PAC, commenting on the NAO report, said: “Government took a risk bailing out Bulb when it failed. Since November 2021, taxpayers have spent £3bn protecting Bulb customers' energy supply. Government needs to manage the recovery of the bulk of taxpayer funding for Bulb from Octopus over the next couple of years and we need to know if there are costs to be passed onto energy bill payers.” Based on the NAO’s latest report , the Committee will question two panels of witnesses on the special administration, sale process and transaction agreement; and on the amount of taxpayer support provided to Bulb Energy, the agreement with Octopus, and the government’s plans to recover this funding. The first panel will include the Chief Executive of the energy regulator Ofgem; the Chief Financial Officer of Octopus Energy and Teneo, the appointed special administrator. For the second panel the Committee will question senior officials at the new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and HM Treasury. If you have relevant evidence to inform the Committee’s questioning of either panel of witnesses, please submit it here by 23:59 on Wednesday 10 May 2023.Please have a look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note the Committee cannot accept as evidence material that has been published elsewhere. Show less

4 Recommendations

21 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

1 Letter

1 Event

Activity timeline 5 events

14 Feb
2024

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Seventy-fourth report from Session 2022-23

1 Nov
2023

Report published

Seventy-Fourth Report - Bulb Energy

19 Jun
2023

Correspondence

Correspondence from Jonathan Brearley, Chief Executive, Ofgem, re Bulb energy, dated 14 June 2023

25 May
2023

Oral evidence

Bulb Energy

25 May
2023

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Bulb Energy

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

25 May 2023

View on parliament.uk

Bulb Energy

Dan Osgood · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero James Bowler CB · HM Treasury Jeremy Pocklington CB · Ministry of Defence Jonathan Brearley · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Jonathan Brearley · Ofgem Matt Cowlishaw · Teneo Phil Duffy · HM Treasury Stuart Jackson · Octopus Energy

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Seventy-Fourth Report - Bulb Energy	HC 1232	1 Nov 2023	25	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 results

22 Conclusion Not Addressed

Seventy-Fourth Report - Bulb Energy

Government implemented extensive £69 billion financial measures to support energy bill payers.

Over the course of 2022, the government announced £69 billion worth of measures to protect billpayers from price increases. In February 2022, it announced a £200 upfront reduction in customers’ bills from October 2022, which was expected to be repaid … Read more

Government Response

The government's response describes existing and ongoing energy support schemes (EPG, cost-of-living payments, EBDS, WHD) for households and businesses. However, the original committee item was a descriptive statement of past government measures, not a recommendation, and the response does not address any specific implicit recommendations from it.

HM Treasury

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23 Recommendation Not Addressed

Seventy-Fourth Report - Bulb Energy

Improve administrative processes to increase energy bill support voucher redemption rates for vulnerable customers.

We examined the government’s support for customers’ and businesses’ energy bills in November 2022 and June 2023. We concluded that many vulnerable customers faced extra challenges accessing benefits designed to help people with their energy bills. We also found that … Read more

Government Response

The government states it agrees and that the recommendation is implemented, but its response describes ongoing general energy support schemes like the EPG and Warm Home Discount. It does not specifically detail how it has addressed administrative barriers or increased the redemption rate for past energy vouchers as explicitly recommended.

HM Treasury

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24 Conclusion

Seventy-Fourth Report - Bulb Energy

Ofgem's energy price cap directly impacts average household energy bills.

The energy price cap limits the rates suppliers can charge customers for the standing charge and for each unit of electricity and gas used. The price cap is set by Ofgem at a level that is largely based on the … Read more

HM Treasury

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25 Conclusion Not Addressed

Seventy-Fourth Report - Bulb Energy

Energy Bill Discount Scheme excludes some energy-intensive businesses from higher support

In our June 2023 report on Energy Bills Support, we found that the government planned to replace the Energy Bill Relief Scheme with the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. This would support businesses for 12 months from April 2023 by providing … Read more In our June 2023 report on Energy Bills Support, we found that the government planned to replace the Energy Bill Relief Scheme with the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. This would support businesses for 12 months from April 2023 by providing a discount on their energy bills if wholesale prices were above a certain threshold. Businesses in certain Energy and Trade-Intensive sectors would receive a higher level of support, based on the government’s standard industrial classification of sectors.53 We therefore asked the Department to update us on whether there had been any assessment of the change 47 Committee of Public Accounts, Regulation of energy suppliers, Twenty-Fifth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 41, 13 November 2022; and Energy Bills Support, Fifty-Eighth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1074, 16 June 2023 48 Committee of Public Accounts, Energy Bills support, Fifty-Eighth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1074, 16 June 2023, para 13 49 Qq 11–13 50 Letter from Jonathan Brearley, Chief Executive of Ofgem to Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair, Public Accounts Committee, 14 June 2023 51 Committee of Public Accounts, Regulation of energy suppliers, Twenty-Fifth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 41, 13 November 2022 52 Qq 2–3; Energy Price Guarantee - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ; Default Tariff Cap | Ofgem 53 Committee of Public Accounts, Energy Bills support, Fifty-Eighth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1074, 16 June 2023, para 20 Bulb Energy 19 in the support being provided and the impact it had. The Department told us that an Energy Bill Discount Scheme was in place for all businesses to provide a base level of support. In April 2023, the Department also announced additional support for businesses classified as Energy and Trade Intensive.54 We again noted that some Energy and Trade Intensive businesses such as laundrettes and the hospitality sector were not included in the classification and so were not eligible to receive additional support. The Department explained that defining an Energy and Show less

Government Response

The government's response describes the ongoing Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) and its provisions for non-domestic customers and heat networks. However, it does not address the committee's specific concerns regarding the lack of assessment of the scheme's impact or the exclusion of certain businesses from additional support.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 24 of 4 classified

Accepted 16

Acknowledged 5

Not Addressed 3

Total 4 recs + 21 conclusions

Correspondence 1 letter

19 Jun 2023 Correspondence from Jonathan Brearley, Chief Executive, Ofgem, re Bulb energy, dated 14 June 2023

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