Wednesday 22 June 2022 12:11 AM Public is left with £4.6billion bill after collapse of energy suppliers as ... trends now

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The collapse of 28 energy firms is set to cost the public £4.6billion through higher bills and taxes.

The National Audit Office (NAO) and MPs today slam the regulator Ofgem for allowing people with no idea of what they were doing to set up energy firms and sign up customers.

Some £2.7billion is being added to the bills of millions of struggling households to clean up part of the mess, while taxpayers face a separate bill currently estimated at £1.9billion.

One firm was effectively set up by a graduate in his bedroom on a laptop while others were established by people without knowledge of the industry and without investing their own money.

Many executives creamed off millions of pounds in pay, fees and loans before the firms went bust, leaving customers and taxpayers to pay the bill.

In many cases customer credit balances, built up by effectively overcharging on monthly direct debits, had disappeared.