Avro Energy: Provider with 1.2 million customers latest hit by financial difficulties

Avro Energy, which was USwitch's best-value-for-money energy provider in 2019 and has 1.2m customers, is in financial difficulties.

The firm has defaulted on the industry's balancing and settlement code (the scheme to satisfy demand for energy that is more than what a company has contracted to buy). An announcement on how customers will be protected is expected from the regulator Ofgem. Normally those customers would be transferred to bigger, less fragile companies under the Supplier of Last Resort rescue scheme, but it is possible a special administrator would have to be appointed.

I am told three other much smaller energy businesses are also in trouble. The cost of these rescues, plus this week's of People's Energy, would be well over £1 billion (industry sources put the cost at £1.1bn), and would be passed on to all of us through our bills. This is as much a cost-of-living crisis as a markets failure. Ofgem refused to comment. I tried to contact Avro but their number was disconnected and the “live chat” facility was down.

Update: Ofgem has just announced that Avro and Green energy are ceasing to trade. Avro in fact has 580,000 customers and not the 1.2m I was told (which may be meter points). Green has 255,000 customers. This is a lot of customers.