The electricity market was less active this year, with many lives and finances thrown into disarray by the coronavirus crisis.
However, nearly 5.5 million households still sought out new electricity suppliers, benefiting from better rates as their home energy consumption rose.
The latest figures from trade body Energy UK suggest that total annual electricity switches are likely to be 6.5% lower than in 2019, when a record six million households moved to a new electricity supplier.
Electricity switches slumped during the first lockdown in the spring: down 29% compared to 2019 in April and 15% year on year in May.
But switching was closer to normal during the second, four-week lockdown in England in November. 490,460 customers moved to new electricity suppliers last month, just 2.5% fewer than in November 2019.
Mid-sized and small energy suppliers continuing to be the winners from market movement. An estimated 37% of the switches were from large suppliers to challengers.
Last week, the government released the long-awaited Energy White Paper, considering ways of further increasing customer engagement with the energy market. Around half of consumers remain on expensive default tariffs with their suppliers, potentially paying hundreds of pounds too much for their energy.
The government’s proposed solutions include opt-in collective switching, an end to roll-over default tariff and automatic switching for customers who have been on default tariffs for years.
Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of Energy UK, said: “With the Energy White Paper published this week looking at ways of further increasing customer engagement with their energy use, it’s good to see that nearly half a million customers last month actively sought out a good deal.
“And even in a year where people’s attention has understandably been on other issues, nearly 5.5 million customers have switched during 2020.”
