Energy UK’s electricity switching figures for 2019 – published today – reveal that last year was another record for switching with 6.4 million customers moving to a new supplier – an average of 12 switches every minute in 2019.
This represents an increase of 9% compared to 2018’s record figure of 5.8 million.
In the last month of 2019, 519,343 customers changed supplier – up 12% on December 2018.
Over the year on average over half a million customers switched supplier each month – with new monthly record set in April, when 668,000 customers changed supplier.
While small and medium suppliers continue to gain customers from bigger providers – a net gain of 1.5 million customers last year – the rate slowed down during 2019 with an increasing amount of customers moving in the other direction.
Audrey Gallacher, Energy UK’s Interim Chief Executive, said:
“With switching at a record high – with on average 12 switches every minute in 2019 – it’s evident that competition continues to flourish in the retail market and customers are benefiting from new innovative products and services.
“There are around 60 energy suppliers and the rapid market changes in recent years have now led to a point where we no longer have a ‘big six’.
“However it is an extremely challenging retail environment for energy companies of all sizes and we must ensure a level playing field to make sure customers have a positive experience and aren’t left picking up the tab when companies with unsustainable business models fail, therefore we welcome recent moves by the regulator to introduce tighter rules for new entrants.”
Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth, Kwasi Kwarteng, said:
“Today’s figures show the benefits of switching, with customers potentially saving around £290 per year on their bills.
“Households can also cut their bills by cutting their emissions – this Big Energy Savings Week I’d urge people to contact the Simple Energy Advice Service to see what they can do.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- To see the latest monthly switching stats, please visit Energy UK’s website.
- The switching data is now supplied by Gemserv (starting from September 2018). Gemserv Limited is the service company contracted by the MRA Service Company (MRASCo) to provide services in support of the MRA including the management of its governance and providing specialised expertise to MRASCo in support of the growing electricity retail market. Historical data up to August 2018 was provided by Electralink.
- The data referenced in these reports is for electricity only. These figures include both domestic (Profile Classes 1 and 2) & non-domestic customers (Profile Classes 3-8 and 0) but do not include customers transferred to another supplier as a result of the Supplier of Last Resort process (SOLR).