Energy News

Huhne urges Brits to switch energy supplier

Wednesday 21 September, 2011

By Martin Fagan - news@consumerchoices.co.uk

Despite energy secretary’s warnings, 12.5m households are yet to switch costing them £3.9bn a year

Despite the energy secretary’s tough talk that energy companies should make it easier for consumers to switch, many stay loyal to their current provider, costing Brits a collective £3.9 billion a year.

Speaking at the Liberal Democrats’ annual party conference in Birmingham, energy secretary Chris Huhne said that regulator Ofgem would receive new powers to enable it to order the “big six” energy companies to compensate consumers who are victims of anti-competitive practices.

However, he did not give details of exactly how firms would be forced to change their practices.

In his speech, Huhne said energy companies should make it easier for consumers to understand the tariffs they were being charged and that, if cheaper tariffs were available from the supplier, energy bills should include details of how to switch.

The speech also included proposals to cut the time it takes to switch to a new energy provider to three weeks from six weeks.

New research reveals households who have never switched could save on average £313 a year if they moved on to the best value deal, according to moneysupermarket.com. It added that if all households who have never changed their energy tariff moved to the best deal, the UK could collectively save £3.9 billion.

“Consumers face a baffling array of tariffs, so moves towards simpler charging, clearer bills, quicker switching and power for the regulator to put money back into consumers’ pockets when firms break the rules would all help customers,” said Mike O’Connor, chief executive of watchdog Consumer Focus.

“But this is not a sector that will be transformed quickly. We believe there are deep-seated issues about the very structure of the market that may need to be addressed, either through the competition commission or some other expert and authoritative scrutiny.”

In recent months, the “big six” providers - British Gas, Scottish Power, Scottish & Southern, Npower, E.ON and EDF - have all upped their prices, the second round of price hikes by the “big six” this year.

Previously, it had been reported in The Times that Huhne had said Brits "do not bother" to hunt for better deals on electricity and gas, and spend more time shopping around for a "£25 toaster" than an energy supplier. Huhne has since said that he was “misquoted”.