Together Energy, which is 50% owned by Warrington Borough Council, is close to going bust within a matter of weeks unless emergency funding can be found.
However, corporate performance and turnaround consultant Alvarez & Marsal said it is close to exhausting its search for funds for the renewable energy provider.
It will then undergo a managed shut-down via Ofgem, through the regulator’s Supplier of Last Resort process, whereby larger suppliers bid for Together Energy’s 170,000 customers – all of which adds further pressure to the industry.
"Every time a supplier goes bust the costs of the remaining suppliers increase, which makes those businesses more vulnerable,” explained Matt Howard, partner at accountancy firm Price Bailey.
Together Energy, which has 250 employees, would become the twenty-sixth energy supplier to collapse since August.
The UK’s energy crisis comes as suppliers struggle with surges in wholesale energy prices created, in part, by limited supplies from Russia which has been accused of restricting gas supplies to Europe.
Bulb - which with 1.7mln customers at the time – was the largest to collapse.
Its large customer base made it the first-ever to use the special administration regime, which meant Bulb was nationalised by the government and is expected to cost the taxpayer billions to unwind.
Council-backed Together Energy would become the third company of its type to go under, following Bristol Energy and Nottingham’s Robin Hood Energy.
Warrington Borough Council invested £18mln in Together Energy in September 2019, at the time saying that it was “an important part of the council's work to address the climate emergency, tackle fuel poverty and create new job opportunities for local people."