More than 52,000 Danish electricity customers are being sold to a new supplier for 318 kroner each, yet their prepaid balances stay behind in a bankrupt estate where the state already claims more than 52.5 million kroner.
The reconstruction plan for the collapsed Velkommen group values each customer contract at 318 kroner per agreement. Meanwhile, the money many customers paid upfront for their power is treated as an unsecured debt that no buyer wants to touch.
Energidrift A/S has agreed to pay 16.7 million kroner for the assets and activities of Velkommen, Nettopower, Power Fuel and B.Energy. According to reporting by Ekstra Bladet, the deal covers 52,392 electricity customer agreements valued at 16.65 million kroner, implying roughly 318 kroner per agreement. The buyer explicitly refuses to assume any liabilities, including customer overpayments, under the fast-track sale. According to court documents reviewed by TV 2, customer prepayments therefore remain as claims against the insolvent estate.
Total registered creditor claims across the Velkommen entities approach 75 million kroner, as reported by TV 2. According to TV 2, Gældsstyrelsen, the Danish Debt Collection Agency, holds more than 52.5 million kroner of that total, representing roughly 70 percent of all claims based on these rounded figures. Ordinary customers compete against the state and commercial lenders in a creditor hierarchy where unsecured consumers rank at the bottom.
Customers risk losing everything
According to Christian Reinholdt, director of consumer advice portal Strømligning, affected customers face very significant risk of losing all or most of their balances, as households come last in line when the estate is settled. Forbrugerrådet Tænk has urged customers to stop payments immediately and switch supplier.
As reported by TV 2, nearly 150 registered claims from private individuals span amounts from a few hundred kroner to more than 50,000 kroner. These prepayments remain as unsecured claims in the estate, competing with professional creditors and the state.
Denmark has no statutory scheme protecting household prepayments to energy retailers, according to guidance reviewed on Retsinformation.dk and from Forbrugerombudsmanden. Unlike the UK, where Ofgem tightened supplier capital rules after a wave of failures, Danish insolvency law treats customer deposits as ordinary unsecured claims.
How the collapse happened
On 26 June 2026, a Swedish finance company obtained a court judgment for 36.8 million kroner against Velkommen, according to TV 2. That award triggered acute liquidity problems. By early July 2026, Velkommen A/S, Nettopower ApS, Power Fuel A/S and Vedvarende A/S had all entered reconstruction proceedings, as reported by elselskaber.dk.
Grid operator Cerius had already reassigned about 32,500 customers across Sjælland and Lolland-Falster to nine electricity companies as an emergency measure. The Energidrift transaction represents a second, more structured redistribution of value. Contracts move to a new operator, while financial claims remain in the insolvent estate.
According to the reconstruction filing by advokat Flemming Jensen, the sale represents the only realistic solution to preserve value from the group’s most valuable assets. As reported by TV 2, Gældsstyrelsen holds claims exceeding 52.5 million kroner, giving state creditors dominant weight in any creditor vote tied to claim size.
Internationals face extra hurdles
Velkommen operated heavily through online sign-ups and telemarketing, channels that attract mobile, price-sensitive customers. According to Statistics Denmark’s StatBank FOLK1A data for 2025, 15 to 17 percent of residents in major urban municipalities including Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg are foreign-born or non-Danish nationals.
Language barriers and the complexity of Danish insolvency procedures increase the risk that international residents fail to register claims properly or miss filing deadlines. No official data breaks down Velkommen-group customers by nationality, and no verified count of affected international residents is available from primary sources.
What customers should do now
Stop all payments to the Velkommen group immediately, as advised by Forbrugerrådet Tænk. Check your current supplier via eloverblik.dk or contact your local grid company. Demand a final settlement statement within 28 days of your new contract taking effect, as required under Danish energy rules according to Strømligning. That document is essential for quantifying what you are owed.
Gather every invoice and account record from your contract period. Once the insolvency estate appoints a trustee, file your claim directly with all supporting evidence. You can also lodge complaints with Ankenævnet på Energiområdet and Forsyningstilsynet, though neither body can override insolvency law.
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This case sits at the intersection of high energy prices, deregulated retail markets and insolvency rules not designed to protect household prepayments. According to DR, Forbrugerrådet Tænk rejects roughly one in three electricity offers in recent consumer tests due to opaque pricing and problematic terms. The Velkommen collapse exposes a systemic gap in consumer protection that disproportionately harms those least equipped to navigate Danish legal procedures.
