The energy crisis could cost each home in Great Britain an extra £120 to cover the expense of dozens of energy supplier collapses this winter, which would plunge hundreds of thousands of households into fuel poverty for the first time.
Consumers in England, Scotland and Wales could be on the hook for a total of £3.2bn to cover the costs left behind by bust gas and electricity providers, on top of paying for record gas and electricity market prices, according to analysts at Investec.
The bank warned of a “substantial” burden on households to provide a safety net for the customers of bust suppliers, including the largest to go under so far, Bulb Energy, which plunged into a special administration process last week.
“The meltdown in the supply market is likely to see substantial additional costs land on every GB household, hardly welcome when fuel poverty is an issue, inflation is an issue, and commodity costs look set to push energy bills up,” the wealth management group Investec said.
Energy bills had already climbed from an average of £1,138 a year to £1,277 a year from…
