Oct 14, 2021

10/14/2021 | 03:01am EDT Message : *Required fields (Reuters) -British energy suppliers are grappling with soaring wholesale gas prices that have led to the collapse of a number of energy companies, forcing nearly 2 million customers so far to switch providers. Prices of wholesale gas have multiplied in recent months as economies reopen after lockdowns and rising demand for liquefied natural gas in Asia pushed down supplies to Europe. Smaller energy suppliers, which have less capital available to hedge customer needs, have stopped trading in recent weeks. Britain's bigger energy firms are mopping up their customers and have asked the government for support to help bear the costs. Before the current crisis, there were more than 50 small- and mid-sized independent energy suppliers in Britain with around a 30% share of the market. The rest of the market is controlled by five large suppliers: OVO Energy and SSE brands, owned by OVO Energy, EDF Energy, Centrica's British Gas, several E.ON brands and Iberdrola's Scottish Power. Here's a look at some of the companies that have fallen prey to the surging costs and the firms that have taken on the customers of the failed ones. Collapsed supplier No. of customers New supplier PfP Energy 82,000 domestic British Gas customers and 5,600