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The government has launched a nationwide campaign urging consumers to switch their energy suppliers, claiming that 13.5 million households could save a total of £2.7 billion by doing so.
The ‘Power to Switch’ campaign, launched today by energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey, will run for four weeks, with national, regional and online advertising informing people they can save an average of £200 by switching.
Members of the public are being asked to visit www.BeAnEnergyShopper.com to learn about switching, and advised that recent gas price cuts do not necessarily mean they are getting the best deal with their current supplier.
The industry has welcomed the campaign.
Energy UK chief executive Lawrence Slade said: “I cannot emphasise enough how important it is for customers to shop around and find the best deal for them.”
Juliet Davenport, chief executive of independent supplier Good Energy, said: “We back this campaign big time. Nowhere near enough people are switching energy supplier.”
Launching the campaign, Davey said: “When it comes to switching, the power is in people’s hands to get a better deal and save.
“We’ve reformed the market so that there are more suppliers, more competition, and a much faster and simpler process to switch. That means millions of people can switch supplier and save hundreds of pounds today.”
Energy and climate change minister Amber Rudd said: “With Ofgem’s strengthened Confidence Code for price comparison sites, people will be able to have greater confidence than ever before that by switching, they’ll see real savings.”
Consumer champion Martin Lewis, of Money Saving Expert, who is supporting the campaign, said: “We need to shout loud about the benefits of switching tariff. Too many people think energy firms are ‘all the same’. That’s far from true, there are huge differences on both price and customer service.
“The worry is that news of recent price cuts, even though they were paltry, will have given many false confidence that they’re on a decent deal. Examine the figures and the ugly truth is very different.
“Even after price cuts, someone on a Big 6 supplier standard tariff with typical use will pay £1,158 a year, whereas switch to the cheapest tariff and they’d pay just over £900 a year.”
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