Bulb Customers to be transfered to Octopus

[nowty]

From what I have read in the recent past, several billion has already been transferred to Bulb to keep it as a "going concern" whilst it was in "Special Administration". I suspect much of the liabilities may now be swallowed up with the government energy cap guarantee.

Earlier info on the liabilities from back in Aug was here,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-623 ... 8_12oHMA24

Since Ofgem took over the running of Bulb, it has not been hedging its purchases of wholesale energy which sources said has led to higher costs.

Bulb, with 1.6 million customers, was the biggest firm to go bust but Ofgem estimates that the cost of all the other energy companies which collapsed in 2021 could reach £2.7bn - or £94 per customer. It includes the cost of transferring customers from failed energy providers to new firms.

The £2.7bn figure is in addition to the billions of pounds earmarked for Bulb which, according to the National Audit Office, has already seen the government spend £900m to keep the company running.

Octopus was the only bidder for Bulb, which filed for administration last year, and if a deal is agreed, it would significantly boost Octopus's 3.1 million customer base.

[SafetyThird]

Do you think that, after the transfer, all new customers to Octopus will have to have a smart meter?

I've not been able to check recently (spent ages talking with Octopus CS to no avail) but when all tariffs were easy to obtain and compare, Octopus weren't very competitive for any non-smart meter tariff. They did used to offer a standard Economy 7 tariff that didn't need a smart meter, but they've been unable to confirm when I've asked if that tariff is still available for those that cannot have a smart meter.

I joined Octopus a few weeks ago, on an E7 tariff and only have a 'dumb' meter. I've applied to have a smart meter fitted but they don't seem to be offering them in my area at the moment. I'm happy for now, I'm paying half what Good Energy were charging for night rate and my battery is proving to be a very good purchase for the coming winter. I'm looking at around 4 years payback time currently.

[Oldgreybeard]

Do you think that, after the transfer, all new customers to Octopus will have to have a smart meter?

I've not been able to check recently (spent ages talking with Octopus CS to no avail) but when all tariffs were easy to obtain and compare, Octopus weren't very competitive for any non-smart meter tariff. They did used to offer a standard Economy 7 tariff that didn't need a smart meter, but they've been unable to confirm when I've asked if that tariff is still available for those that cannot have a smart meter.

I joined Octopus a few weeks ago, on an E7 tariff and only have a 'dumb' meter. I've applied to have a smart meter fitted but they don't seem to be offering them in my area at the moment. I'm happy for now, I'm paying half what Good Energy were charging for night rate and my battery is proving to be a very good purchase for the coming winter. I'm looking at around 4 years payback time currently.

That's useful to know. I couldn't get a definitive answer from them on the phone, nor could I confirm the tariff for non-smart E7. Right now we are paying 16.982p/kWh off-peak (which in reality is pretty much the only electricity we pay for), and are so much in credit that our direct debit has been reduced to £12/month from now until the end of March next year. Our direct debit used to be £78/month, but they wanted to nearly double this back in April but I persuaded them that even £78/month was going to be way more than we use, and this has been shown to be the case, with a credit of close to £400 being accumulated even with the price increases.

[nowty]

On hold again now as some of the other energy companies who previously were not interested suddenly are.

https://news.sky.com/story/sale-of-coll ... s-12744988

In October, Octopus Energy announced it had sealed a deal to buy its rival and would be taking on Bulb's 1.5 million customers after the firm was placed into special administration in November 2021.

The sale of collapsed energy company Bulb has been delayed by a High Court judge after concerns were raised by rival firms.