Government regulator Ofgem has appointed British Gas to take on the 90,000 customers of former supplier Rebel Energy after the latter went bust at the start of the month.

With Rebel Energy going out of business, 84,000 household and some 6,000 business customers were briefly left without a supplier. However, a week later, British Gas has been appointed as the new supplier for these customers per Ofgem’s decision.

In this piece, we’ll discuss what customers can next expect, including whether to wait or not before changing suppliers and where British Gas may now stand in relation to its key competitor Octopus Energy.

What Should Customers Expect?

Rebel Energy discontinued trading earlier in the month, with the main reasons including rising wholesale prices.

According to Ofgem, the funds in Rebel Energy domestic customers’ accounts (current and former) will be protected where customers are in credit.

In the case of customers owing money to their former supplier, Ofgem adds that they should wait for British Gas or Rebel Energy’s administrators to make contact.

And following the transfer to British Gas, customers will receive a competitive tariff. However, it’ll be possible to change suppliers without the need to pay an exit fee. Other top suppliers in the UK include EDF Energy and OVO Energy.

Ofgem recommends customers considering other energy suppliers to wait until the transfer process is complete before making a decision.

British Gas is set to contact all affected customers in the coming days to inform them of the changes and, in some cases, likely already have.

British Gas’ Gains Still Likely Adrift Of Octopus Energy

While British Gas, once the largest electricity supplier in the UK, has seen a relatively marginal increase in its electricity customer base, it likely remains behind rival Octopus Energy. That said, more up to date figures would be needed to be sure.

Octopus Energy reportedly surpassed British Gas as the UK’s largest energy supplier in January, according to data from Cornwall Insights. At the time, this placed British Gas at 23.1% of the nation’s energy supply share. On the other hand, Octopus Energy holds a 23.7% customer share.

While the figures will have changed since then, including the recent 90,000 customers increase for British Gas, the data suggests it’s quite likely that Octopus Energy remains the leading energy supplier.

In 2022, Octopus Energy saw its customer base surge by 1.5 million following the acquisition of Bulb Energy, as well as securing continued employment for the former firm’s 650 employees.

This followed the government placing Bulb Energy into Special Administration Regime from 2021 to 2022.

Given the cost to the taxpayer resulting from the former government’s temporary nationalisation of Bulb Energy, a saga followed the acquisition.

This eventually led to Octopus Energy paying £3 billion to the government given that the supplier did not need to make an upfront purchase of Bulb Energy. However, it’s worth noting that Octopus Energy was chosen out of several other suppliers vying to acquire Bulb Energy. This followed a process that was quite competitive.

Nonetheless, competitors later saw this as providing Octopus Energy with an unfair advantage (so are the dynamics of these situations) resulting in the saga that was resolved in October 2024, providing the UK government with an estimated £1.5 billion profit, helping to support the taxpayer in turn.

Given the international growth and more agile nature of Octopus Energy (true to their name), it’s possible they will become the dominant energy supplier in the future, though British Gas, founded in 1812, is unlikely to go anywhere any time soon.

While not clear, it is possible we’ll see further energy supplier acquisitions in the future, though, there’s potential for the energy market and prices in general to stabilise more towards the end of the decade, given the growth of renewables and hopefully a decline of the global energy crises in enough time.