The taxpayer bailout of Bulb Energy is on track to cost the government only £260 million, a fraction of the £6.5 billion that had been feared, thanks to the plunge in wholesale energy prices, according to Octopus Energy.
Octopus, which reported widened annual pre-tax losses of £166 million, became Britain’s third-biggest energy supplier at the end of last year after striking a deal to buy Bulb out of government-backed special administration.
Bulb had 1.6 million customers when it collapsed as energy prices soared in November 2021, and the Office for Budget Responsibility said in November 2022 that its bailout could cost as much as £6.5 billion. When the sale to Octopus completed in late December the government said it was providing a post-completion funding facility
