Government agrees to meet Warrington MP to discuss the demise of Together Energy
Government minister Kemi Badenoch has agreed to meet with Tory MP to discuss the collapse of council-backed supplier Together Energy.
Andy Carter, Conservative MP for Warrington South, asked the minister for the department for levelling up, housing, and communities for a meeting in the House of Commons.
After Badenoch agreed, the backbencher said they would meet later this week.
The energy firm ceased trading earlier this month, with its 170,000 customers being shifted to Centrica-owned British Gas via Ofgem’s supplier of last resort process.
Together Energy was 50 per cent owned by Warrington Borough Council, and enjoyed the backing of £50m in taxpayer money since it was founded in 2016.
During questions to the minister’s department, Carter said local residents were “rightly concerned that £50m of public money was invested in a loss-making company”.
“Will the minister meet with me to look at what steps we can take to protect local services and what lessons we can learn from governance in local authorities?” he said.
Badenoch responded: “Yes”.
The energy supplier is the 25th firm to collapse since last September, with market carnage causing four million domestic consumers to be directly affected by fallen companies.
Together Energy had been scrambling for money for several months prior to its fall from grace, with the supplier appointing Alvarez & Marsal to chase up potential sources of revenue.
Like many suppliers, it was hamstrung by the consumer price cap and soaring wholesale costs that smashed its hedging strategy.