Open Electric entered the supply market just over a year ago, and its 1,100 customers will now be transferred to the largest energy provider in Northern Ireland, Power NI, which is the nominated supplier to take on customers when another supplier exits the market.
A statement from the supplier blamed its closure on “swift and significant” increases in energy prices over recent months. Open Electric said its inability to forward buy energy and access the best wholesale price as a small supplier meant that the “business has become untenable”.
The Northern Ireland utility regulator issued reassurance to customers telling them they “do not need to worry, particularly over the Christmas period, and they will not experience any disruption” to their electricity supply.
The regulator’s chief executive Jenny Pyper added that it had been “carefully watching” market developments in general and particularly over the last few weeks. It has been speaking with a range of suppliers about the implications of these developments.
“As soon as we decided that Open Electric’s licence should be revoked, we activated established arrangements to ensure that affected customers did not lose their electricity supply, and were transferred seamlessly to Power NI,” she said.