People’s Energy couple blasted on £50m bonanza

The boss of British gas owner Centrica last night accused the couple behind failed supplier People’s Energy of holding on to millions in windfall profits.

Karin Sode and David Pike oversaw the bankruptcy of their energy company in 2021, which had 350,000 customers at the time. It joined the 30 or so failed suppliers that have left households with multibillion-pound bills to cover costs.

People’s Energy, unique among those firms, went bankrupt, leaving the company with energy contracts worth more than £200 million even after its creditors had been paid. The pair have pledged to donate 75 per cent to charity, but that, according to reports, leaves an estimated £50 million that could stay with them as pure profit, despite the company’s demise.

Market sources said Sode approached Centrica — which took on People’s Energy customers — as part of its effort to fulfill its promise. When asked by The Mail on Sunday, Centrica CEO Chris O’Shea said he insisted she also give away the full £200m, including the £50m the couple were reportedly keeping – but that put him off with the neck was looked at.

He said: ‘We would have been willing to work with them to distribute this money to customers who really need it if they could have assured us that they hadn’t kept 25 percent of the money.

“They couldn’t or couldn’t give us that reassurance. Some of these private companies have seen the energy market as a one-way street to get richer. That’s just wrong – shareholders, not customers, should foot the bill for failures.’

People’s Energy collapsed at the height of the energy crisis when some companies were caught off guard by the sudden rise in wholesale gas prices.

The couple still benefits, as a separate company owned by them is a creditor who will receive most of the profits from the collapse. The cost of bailing out suppliers has been added to household energy bills.

Pike is setting up a new company called Ethibuy.

He and Sode were both contacted for comment.