We're back to a Big Six energy market. So now what?

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In late 2013, as regulator Ofgem set about another round of changes to boost competition, the Big Six energy retailers had about 95 per cent of the electricity market.

Article originally published by The Financial Times. Hargreaves Lansdown is not responsible for its content or accuracy and may not share the author's views. News and research are not personal recommendations to deal. All investments can fall in value so you could get back less than you invest.

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18 Sep 2023

We all have weeks where, despite our best efforts, it doesn’t feel like we’ve accomplished very much.

Take heart. Over a decade of efforts to revitalise the market for household energy has achieved remarkably little — various reforms, inquiries, a price cap and a great big crisis later.

In late 2013, as regulator Ofgem set about another round of changes to boost competition, the Big Six energy retailers had about 95 per cent of the electricity market. The rest was shared between a couple of growing rivals, plus a clutch of small suppliers that had under 2 per cent of the market between them. There were 24 companies operating across gas and electricity.

The ill-advised push to get customers to switch to cut-price deals offered by flimsy new entrants would peak with 70 suppliers and a Big Six market share in electricity of under 70 per cent, just before names like SSE