NI energy sector must ‘continue to build consumer trust’

The energy sector in Northern Ireland must continue to work with the regulator to build trust with consumers, the chief executive of the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland has insisted.

Speaking at an energy policy conference in Belfast, John French said: “Energy competition in Northern Ireland is becoming more effective. Suppliers are offering more innovative deals that compete, not just on price but also look to offer discounts against the various payment methods, and offer welcome and loyalty bonuses.”

He added that the country has seen a rapid increase in switching in recent years. “If you look at the Utility Regulator’s transparency reports, you can see that back in 2014, 5.7 per cent of consumers were switching.

“This rose to 11.3 per cent last year, and based on the latest projections, this is likely to be around 16 per cent in 2016. This compares to switching rates in GB of 14.8 per cent – according to Ofgem’s September 2016 figures.”

In his speech at the same event, Power NI managing director Stephen McCully said that levels of trust in the energy sector in Northern Ireland are “very high”. He pointed to recent research which found that the level of trust for energy consumers in Northern Ireland is just under 80 per cent, whereas in GB it is around 40 per cent.

However, French called for the regulator and the industry to “continue to build trust with consumers”, so that both domestic and business energy consumers are “confident that they are receiving value for money from their suppliers and the energy market as a whole”.

Also at the conference, speakers agreed that Brexit would not affect the north-south interconnector or the all-island interconnected electricity system in the long-term.

Patrick Keatley, a research fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at the University of Ulster said both of these mechanisms would benefit everybody on the island of Ireland.