Bristol Energy's latest figures show nearly £15m loss

A troubled council-owned energy company revealed a £14.8m loss in its latest annual report.

Bristol Energy, sold off by Bristol City Council last year, made the losses in the year up to March 2020.

The council's Conservative group leader, Mark Weston, said the figures, which take the overall losses to around £40m, were "truly shocking".

It was revealed last year that the company's boss was given a nearly £95,000 payout when he left.

The annual report showed Bristol Energy, which was set up in 2015 before the current Labour administration took over, posted an adjusted operating loss of £8.5m in the year up to 31 March 2020.

Released on 10 January, the report said that figure does not take into account just under £3.3m in "bad debt" and other costs, such as £219,000 for restructuring.

When these extra costs are included, the official operating loss is £13.26m, and when interest and tax are taken into account, the total loss was £14.8m.

"The directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend," the report said, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Bristol Energy, which was set up to provide ethically-sourced and low-cost energy, sold its domestic and business accounts in the autumn of 2020.

The city council has so far invested £37.5m in the business, which has posted losses above £10m every year since 2018, despite growing its customer base.

Mr Weston said he suspected the final losses would be "something north of £50m".

"The squandering of tens of millions of pounds of public funds on this project, long after it should have been terminated, represents an unparalleled example in our city of poor political judgement and financial mismanagement," he said.

Bristol City Council has asked its own auditors Grant Thornton to find out the full extent of the cost to council taxpayers of setting up and running the company.

The council has been contacted for comment.