Ofgem has appointed Shell Energy Retail to take on the more than 252,000 customers of Pure Planet, Colorado Energy and Daligas following their recent failures.
As well as 252,000 domestic customers, Shell will take on 600 business customers.
The energy regulator announced the move shortly after confirming GoTo Energy was ceasing to trade this afternoon (18 October). The latest batch of market exits takes the total number of failures so far this year to 16.
Pure Planet revealed last week it would be ceasing to trade after backers BP withdrew funding.
Speaking to Utility Week today company co-founder Steven Day said he feels like the retailer has been “caught in the crossfire” of a volatile global market and “dysfunctional domestic policy”.
Day, who founded the company with Chris Alliott and Andrew Ralston, reiterated his concerns regarding the energy price cap: “From a personal point of view I feel as though we have been caught in the crossfire slightly.
“You have got international energy price mayhem and a global scramble for energy which has driven the price sky-high, coupled to a dysfunctional domestic policy where you have got a massive asymmetry in terms of how the regulation is being applied.
“The asymmetry being only consumers are protected on variable tariffs but the supply base is not, industry is not, business is not. So you have got massive asymmetry there and there’s a Brexit factor as well, it has to be said.”
He further explained: “Were we to be in Europe we would A, have the same harmonised market, and B, we potentially would have an EU central policy trying to help. It’s a small factor but it’s an important one.”
Elsewhere in the sector, Elexon recently proposed to expel Milton Keynes-based Ampower from the Balancing and Settlement Code due to its failure to sufficiently reduce its credit cover percentage over a period of two working days.
Additionally, the code administrator proposed to suspend the right of MA Energy to register any metering systems and further register any Balancing Mechanism units after it also failed to sufficiently reduce its credit cover percentage.