Challenger energy supplier Bulb set to expand overseas
The UK’s largest renewable energy supplier, Bulb, is set to expand into France, Spain and Texas in the United States, according to the company’s co-founder and chief executive.
Boss Hayden Wood told an audience at the Stratup Grind event on Thursday that he wants to bring his renewable energy offering to homes there later this year via a “friends and family” launch, rolling it out to the public from early next year.
He said: “When we started Bulb in the UK, we saw the same story at all the big providers – poor service, high tariffs, inefficiency and little support for renewables. We’re excited to give the people of France, Spain and Texas a better choice about where they get their energy from.”
Since launching in 2015, the London-based supplier has signed up 1.3 million households to its single tariff, which offers 100% renewable electricity and 10% renewable gas, although it is yet to make a profit.
Latest accounts for the year to March 31 last year show the business made a £23.7 million pretax loss on revenues of £182.7 million. Last year bosses raised £60 million in funding, valuing the business at £400 million.
It is understood there are no plans for future fundraising to fund the expansion at this point.
The company has been one of the few challenger energy suppliers to successfully take on the Big Six – British Gas, Eon, Scottish Power, SSE, EDF and Npower – in a year that has seen nearly a dozen rivals going bust in the past 12 months through offering unsustainable low prices.
With so many firms collapsing, regulator Ofgem has launched strict new rules to avoid unscrupulous operators entering the market.
