Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to protect customers from the potential negative effects of collapse of energy retail companies.

Where an energy supplier fails its customers are quickly transferred to another supplier appointed by Ofgem and their account balances are protected. Ofgem are considering a range of options to limit consumers’ exposure to the costs of supplier failures and plan to consult further in the summer.

The choice for consumers has increased from 13 suppliers in 2010 to around 60 now, with a wide range of innovative tariffs, competitive prices and low-carbon products.