(Reuters) – British energy suppliers are grappling with soaring wholesale gas prices that have led to the collapse of a number of energy companies, forcing about 1.7 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.

There are more than 50 small- and mid-sized independent energy suppliers in Britain which have 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

non-domestic customers

MoneyPlus Energy 9,000 domestic British Gas

customers

Utility Point 220,000 domestic EDF

customers

People’s Energy 350,000 domestic British Gas

customers, and 1,000

non-domestic customers

Avro Energy 580,000 domestic Octopus Energy

customers

Green Supplier Ltd 255,000 domestic Shell Energy

customers and a small

number of non-domestic

customers

ENSTROGA 6,000 domestic E.ON Next

customers

Igloo Energy 179,000 domestic E.ON Next

customers

Symbio Energy 48,000 domestic E.ON Next

customers and a small

number of non-domestic

customers

(SOURCE: OFGEM, Reuters reporting)

(Reporting by Aditi Sebastian and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)