The crisis is escalating, and the British power company stops attracting new customers. Business and economic news

The British government held an emergency meeting with small power suppliers on Tuesday, and by late afternoon, Igloo, Green, Ampower, Utilita and NEO Energy had posted notices on their websites stating that they had ceased new businesses.

Due to the sharp escalation of the country’s energy crisis, many small British gas and electricity suppliers stopped accepting new customers.

The British government held an emergency meeting with small power suppliers on Tuesday. By late afternoon, Igloo, Green, Ampower, Utilita and NEO Energy had posted notices on their websites stating that they had closed new businesses. A few hours later, the regulator asked five small companies to pay taxes owed to the government.

Another sign of tension is that three companies, including Delta, Ampower and Avro, received orders that they had failed to provide sufficient collateral to conduct electricity transactions. Elexon is responsible for clearing transactions and ensuring that generators and suppliers pay the appropriate amount, and issued a statement late on Tuesday.

As natural gas and electricity prices have soared to record levels, several of these companies’ competitors have closed down this year, selling energy at lower prices to attract new customers to suppliers who cannot keep their promises. In the coming months, the risk that more and more energy retailers will go bankrupt will increase, which may make hundreds of thousands of British households uncertain who will provide heating and lighting when winter comes.

“A lot of smaller companies may go,” said Niall Trimble, managing director of consulting firm Energy Contract Co. financial. “

A series of business closures will magnify the damage to the economy caused by the energy crisis. Industries ranging from fertilizer manufacturing to food processing and distribution have fallen into turmoil, prompting state intervention.

After several days of negotiations, the British government reached an agreement on Tuesday to restart the fertilizer plant that was closed due to the high price of natural gas raw materials. This has caused a shortage of carbon dioxide-a by-product of the manufacturing process that is vital to the food industry.

Extrusion supplier

“Like some of our competitors, we decided to temporarily suspend sales activities,” Igloo CEO Matt Clemow said on the company’s website. “With unprecedented wholesale prices, we made this decision, allowing our team to focus on the customers we already supply.”

With high natural gas and electricity prices squeezing all suppliers, the usual mechanism of handing over the customers of a failed company to another company is being tested. The government’s upper limit on utility bills means that it is unprofitable for big companies to rescue them.

British Secretary of Commerce Kwasi Kwarteng warned that as the crisis deepens, the next few days will be full of challenges. He said the government is considering providing loans to companies to support the transfer of customers from failed retailers to other suppliers.

On Monday, British Gas, the retail arm of Centrica Plc, agreed to take over the customers of the failed supplier People’s Energy, which serves approximately 350,000 domestic customers and 500 companies.

Kwarteng and Jonathan Brearley, CEO of Ofgem, the gas and electricity market regulator, met with a group of small energy suppliers on Tuesday after several days of emergency talks with large groups.