Bulb administration costs soar to £6.5bn

The taxpayer bill for bailing out failed energy supplier Bulb has surged to £6.5bn, according to official documents released on Thursday.

Bulb was placed into administration and handed to the government after collapsing last November with around 1.5 million customers. It was bought by rival Octopus last month in a controversial deal that is currently being contested by other energy firms over a lack of transparency around the deal.

Documents released with the Treasury’s autumn budget revealed that £4.6bn of public money would be spent on handling the company in 2022-23. In March, the Office for Budget Responsibility said the rescue would cost £2.2bn over two years.

Octopus and the government refuse to say how much Bulb was sold for, nor any other aspects of the deal.

Bulb was part of a massive collapse of retail suppliers last year as gas prices soared, with many unable to meet their commitments. The National Audit Office has said that consumers would need to pay £2.7bn to cover the costs of 28 energy suppliers failing since June 2021, excluding Bulb.

The High Court has ordered for Bulb’s transfer date to be delayed from November 15, saying energy companies Scottish Power, British Gas and Eon had raised concerns about the proposal.

British Gas and Scottish Power have argued they have not been given enough time to consider the deal, and raised the potential for a legal challenge against approval.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com