A council initiative to help Essex residents switch energy supplier has saved households £258 on average and helped them trim their carbon emissions.
1,644 households took part in the seventh iteration of the Essex Energy Switch, delivered between December 2019 and March 2020.
The Switch is a collective energy switching campaign sponsored annually by Essex County Council to helps residents easily move to a more competitive gas and electricity tariff. Residents simply have to sign up, a process that’s free and takes just five minutes, and then are offered one of three energy deals.
This round, the chosen tariffs aren’t just cheaper than residents’ previous tariffs, but they also deliver 100% renewable electricity.
By switching to green energy from fossil-fuel heavy suppliers, participants avoided carbon emissions equal to removing 1,059 cars from the road.
Going forward, Essex County Council will require all participating energy suppliers to provide 100% renewable power.
Cllr Simon Walsh, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change Action, said: “Now in its seventh year, the Essex Energy Switch is proving to be an easy and cost-effective way for all Essex households to make the switch to renewable energy.
“The amount of savings made by Essex residents using the Essex Energy Switch speak for themselves—with more than £3.7million saved overall since the scheme launched in 2014.
“This is a fantastic initiative that benefits individuals and local communities; the more people that sign-up for the Essex Energy Switch, the bigger the potential saving per household.”
The Essex Energy Switch will ramp up against in October, with energy suppliers competing in an auction to see which can offer the cheapest energy tariff to participating households. By negotiating with suppliers collectively through the programme, Essex residents can get access to better rates than those on the open market.
When the winning suppliers are selected, registered households will receive a personalised letter detailing the savings they could make by switching. They’re under no obligation, but if they accept the offer, the switching is done for them.
Switching to a cheaper electricity tariff is more important than ever, as many Britons continue to face elevated energy consumption from working from home and deleted incomes. However, consumer appetite for switching was dampened during lockdown with electricity switching figures hitting a three-year low in May.
Switching rebounded in June, however, as Britons emerged from lockdown and reconsidered their finances. 470,000 electricity switches were completed during the month, six per cent more than in June 2019.
