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The cost of facilitating the special administration regime (SAR) used when Bulb exited the market has exceeded £41 million, the latest administration report reveals.
After Bulb entered the SAR towards the end of 2021, management consultants Teneo became the company’s administrator while a buyer was found for its customers.
Octopus Energy eventually took over Bulb’s 1.5 million customers in 2022.
The latest administrator’s progress report published by Teneo reveals that the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has additionally approved around £3.8 million in administration costs to be awarded to Teneo.
Amounts of around £25 million and £12.3 million had been approved previously, taking the total administration costs to more than £41 million plus VAT.
It comes as Octopus recently confirmed that, by September this year, it will repay the entire £3 billion in government loans it received to acquire Bulb’s customer base.
The £3 billion includes a profit being realised of c.£1.3 billion which the government is using to cover the entire cost of the SAR process, including Teneo’s fees.
In addition to the costs of the administration, the latest report also includes a figure for costs incurred by legal advisors Linklaters LLP, counsel and Teneo for work carried out in the period prior to Bulb entering the SAR.
These costs total almost £3.2 million (plus VAT).
Following Octopus’ repayment, Bulb’s administrators estimate the outstanding amount of other related costs is around £6.1 million.
This figure, said permanent secretary for energy security and net zero Jeremy Pocklington, “represents an approximately 99% plus recovery of amounts owed to HMG”.
In a letter written last month, Pocklington told the chair of the Public Accounts Committee Meg Hillier: “This is a significant decrease from the £19.6 million figure cited in February and is due to refinements in the joint energy administrator’s (JEA) forecasts as remaining issues are settled, and there is more clarity around future cash flows.
“As highlighted previously, there are still a number of uncertainties to work through and the final quantum of any shortfall will not be known until the end of the SAR period in 2025.”
Teneo has also been appointed by Thames Water to help restructure the business amid concerns that it could also enter into a special administration.
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