In a hugely competitive business landscape, every company is doing their utmost to improve efficiency and reduce costs throughout the company.
Part of this involves seeking advice from a business energy broker in order to get the same energy supply but for less, often by taking advantage of more efficient pricing or attractive initial rates from other energy providers.
This is the most common reason to switch suppliers and in some cases, it can take just one call to enjoy a significant saving. However, sometimes people and businesses switch suppliers by necessity rather than by choice.
Following the special measures taken to rescue British Steel, concerns regarding the future of certain major water providers and an energy sector in the midst of transition, a question that is sometimes asked of brokers is what happens to customers if an energy supplier goes out of business.
Energy suppliers are not normal businesses, which would cease to provide their products or services once they are no longer a going concern, but given that this would potentially put lives at risk, there is a tested, proven process for managing a collapse.
What Is A Special Administration Regime?
The typical administration process, whether it involves restructuring or liquidation, would often involve some disruption to the business even if the result was not to wind it up entirely.
In the energy sector, there are typically two ways to manage failing companies; the first is that Ofgem will assign the customers of the collapsed company to a new supplier automatically. This recently happened following the administration of Rebel Energy in April 2025.
This is an automatic process, but typically means that customers cannot switch until it is completed.
The alternative is a special administration regime (SAR), where Ofgem and by extension the UK government run the company entirely, providing security and continuity whilst the complex process of selling the business and transferring customers is undertaken.
The latter, which requires approval by the relevant secretary of state, is typically only undertaken when a large supplier becomes insolvent and the process of transferring customers would take too long to guarantee continuity of service.
This process is not necessarily limited to the energy sector, as postal services, the water secretary and some serious financial services deemed “too big to fail” are also part of the SAR umbrella.
However, the energy sector does have an exemplary case of exactly what happens if your energy supplier collapses.
The Fall Of Bulb Energy
Initially founded as Regent Power, Bulb Energy was one of the first major energy suppliers to focus primarily on renewable electricity generation paired with carbon offset natural gas.
It quickly became the biggest renewable energy supplier in the UK and the biggest that was not part of what was then the Big Six (British Gas, E.ON, npower, Scottish Power, EDF Energy and SSE).
Part of this was the result of a unique selling point, which ultimately highlighted the economic case for focusing on carbon neural energy that would be a much bigger focus of not only the independent energy market but also what would become the Big Five.
Bulbs were popular with customers and supplied to 1.7m customers. However, they were still small by the standards of the UK energy sector, which meant that when wholesale gas prices surged in 2021, over 30 energy companies were instantly made insolvent.
Most of these were small enough that customers could be transferred over, but the size of Bulb meant that the process would be far more complex and the government took the unprecedented move to place it into an SAR at a cost of over £3bn.
The SAR ensured that Bulb Energy could continue to function before it was sold to Octopus Energy in December 2022, another renewable energy supplier that nearly doubled its customer base as a result.
As Octopus repaid nearly £3bn to the UK government, the overall net cost of the SAR of Bulb Energy was estimated to be just £6.1m.
What Should You Do If Your Energy Supplier Goes Out Of Business?
If you are affected by the administration of an energy supplier, keep copies of any bills, note down any meter readings and wait for your new supplier to get in touch with you.
There is no need to cancel any standing orders or direct debits and switching providers before the transfer is complete may complicate the process.
Any credits or debts will be transferred to the new company, and once the process is complete, it is worth exploring potential deals with the help of a specialist broker.
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