来源：《卫报》
原文刊登日期：2021年11月24日
本文适合2023英语二考生
The crisis in the UK’s energy market has been growing in scale and seriousness for months. This week it claimed its latest corporate victim – and reached a tipping point. Bulb is the 23rd energy supplier to fail since August, but, unlike small companies such as Igloo and Neon Reef, it cannot easily be taken over by a rival. With turnover of £1.5bn, it is simply too big.
几个月来，英国能源市场危机的规模和严重性都在不断扩大。本周，又有了最新的受害企业——并达到了一个临界点。灯泡能源是自8月以来经营不下去的第23家能源供应商，但与Igloo和Neon-Reef等小公司不同，它不容易被竞争对手收购。15亿英镑的营业额实在是太大了。
Bulb will instead enter “special administration” and be run on behalf of the government until it can be broken up or sold off. Meanwhile, its 1.7 million customers will remain with the company and get the same corporate branding on their bills.
相反，灯泡能源将进入“特别管理”，并代表政府运行，直到它可以被拆分或出售。与此同时，它的170万客户将继续使用该公司的服务，并在他们的账单上依然显示灯泡能源的公司品牌。
Like the other corporate failures before it, Bulb has been quick to blame the government-imposed cap on fuel bills, which limited how far it could pass on the soaring costs it faced in the wholesale market. But Bulb’s directors and investors have their own case to face. Founded in 2015, the startup posed as less of an energy company and more of a tech firm – the Uber of the fuel market that would challenge the old logic of the sector.
就像之前倒闭的其他公司一样，灯泡能源迅速将责任归咎于政府对燃油价格施加的上限，这限制了它在能源批发市场上转嫁飙升成本的能力。但灯泡能源的董事和投资者也要面对自身的原因。这家成立于2015年的初创公司与其说是一家能源公司，不如说是一家科技公司——它是燃料市场的优步，旨在挑战能源行业的旧逻辑。
Like any Silicon Valley wannabe, it was more bothered about market share than profit – which was handy, as it never made one. Instead, it took on households and business customers at below cost and sported fashionable advertising. A triumph of marketing, it brought no real innovation to the industry.
就像所有硅谷的模仿者一样，灯泡能源更关心的是市场份额而不是利润——这很容易，因为它从来没有盈利过。相反，它以低于成本的价格吸引家庭和企业客户，并打出时尚的广告。这是一场营销的胜利，但并没有给行业带来真正的创新。
Bulb’s collapse raises some serious questions about the true purpose of competition in what is a utility sector. If a taxi app collapses, it ultimately does not matter as much as the failure of a supplier of fuel.
灯泡能源的倒闭引发了一些严重的问题：在公用事业领域，竞争的真正目的是什么？如果一个出租车应用程序崩溃了，它最终不会像燃料供应商的倒闭产生严重的后果。
In the short term, one obvious solution is for the watchdog Ofgem to pay far more attention to the financial viability of businesses in its sector. That will frankly make it harder for smaller players without ready access to a cash fountain. So over the long run there is a big question about how the sector can deliver lower prices and energy security while helping the UK move towards a lower carbon future.
短期来看，一个显而易见的解决方案是让监管机构英国能源监管局(Ofgem)更加关注能源行业企业的财务生存能力。坦率地说，这将使那些收入来源不多的小公司更加困难。因此，从长远来看，更大的问题是，能源行业如何在降低价格和保证能源安全的同时，帮助英国走向一个更低碳的未来。
The answer to that will probably not lie wholly through a market solution. It may involve a much larger role for the state, either through further regulation and funding, or even a public sector entity.
这个问题的答案可能不会完全依靠市场解决方案。这可能需要政府发挥更大的作用，要么通过进一步的监管和资金，要么甚至是一个公共部门实体。