LONDON - British energy supplier Centrica said on Thursday that it was committed to protecting its customers' deposits, standing at 294 million pounds ($400.25 million), and urged energy watchdog Ofgem to regulate that all providers must protect consumers' money.

Soaring prices over the past year have forced about 30 British energy suppliers to exit the market, with 26 going bankrupt since August 2021.

"The current UK energy market crisis has seen a large number of suppliers use customers’ credit to fund unsustainable commercial models and subsequently collapse, resulting in the disappearance of more than £500 million of UK consumers' money," Centrica said in a statement.

"As a responsible, sustainable supplier, Centrica protects customer deposits, and currently holds £294m in a separate bank account," the company said, referring to the amount held after customers made advanced payments for their energy supply.

Centrica urged UK energy regulator Ofgem to make sure all energy suppliers protect customers' money and ensure there is a stronger regulatory framework in place for energy suppliers to prevent a repeat of the current energy crisis.

This comes a day after Ofgem announced introducing two short-term measures to help to stabilise the UK energy market to help protect consumers who face a further jump in energy prices from April after it raised its cap on the most widely used energy tariffs by 54%. 

"The cost of energy company failures, including the lost consumer money, is added to the energy bills of every UK consumer and was responsible for 10% of Ofgem’s recent price increase," Centrica said.

Sky News reported on Wednesday that Ofgem faced a legal hearing on Thursday that aimed to limit the regulator's ability to claim hundreds of millions of pounds from the remnants of collapsed suppliers.

Ofgem said it does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

 

($1 = 0.7345 pounds)

(Reporting by Marwa Rashad; Editing by Susan Fenton) ((marwa.rashad@thomsonreuters.com; +447823669044; Reuters Messaging: marwa.rashad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))