Almost 1.5 million households in the UK have lost their chosen energy suppliers as six companies collapsed in less than three weeks amid a global wholesale natural gas price hike. On Wednesday, Avro Energy and Green Supplier Limited became the most recent companies to announce cessation of trade, orphaning 580,000 and 255,000 customers respectively. The UK’s energy regulator Ofgem told customers of the two companies to take a meter reading on Wednesday and wait to be contacted by a new supplier, which will be appointed by Ofgem. “I want to reassure customers of Avro Energy and Green Supplier Limited (‘Green.’) that they do not need to worry,” Neil Lawrence, director of retail at Ofgem, said in a statement. “Under our safety net we’ll make sure your energy supplies continue. If you have credit on your Avro Energy or Green Supplier Limited account this is protected and you will not lose the money that …