Great news. Thanks to Octopus Energy ElectraLink and Perse, there is a change request in with the Retail Energy Code Company to fix this issue and enable ALL consumers to be able to switch. Everyone should have freedom of choice and this market, despite the ban on acquisition tariffs and the price cap...., IS supposed to operate as a competitive one. Special thanks to Angela Joyce Paul Linnane Vikesh Sachdeva Jaipal Naidu
£100 million in lost savings: how an energy market glitch is hurting consumers Perse Technology, the leading energy data provider to the likes of NatWest Group and Compare the Market, has discovered a new flaw in the energy market that is preventing around over 1 million of Britain’s households from switching energy provider, costing them on average £105 each per year. The UK is in the middle of bringing new industry changes to how energy is reconciled against what has been bought and consumed. Whilst these are around 18 months away from being live for everyone, 1 million households have been signed up early to take part in a testing phase. What these households are unlikely to have known and consented to is that this is now preventing them from switching to a cheaper rate. This has been discovered by Perse, which powers Compare the Market, at an alarming rate. The issue has been created by industry data flows changing these customers’ meter profile class to be equivalent to a commercial and industrial meter (which is already settled on the new basis), losing their domestic status. This has resulted in the billing and CRM systems of energy suppliers rejecting these customers when they attempt to switch, as being ineligible for a domestic energy tariff. The only solution that appears open to affected households is to convince their current supplier to change their profile class back to domestic. It is estimated that this process could take weeks - longer than the time period when several of the cheapest energy tariffs have been live on Price Comparison Websites. The missed savings potential currently stands at over £100 million. Jane Lucy, CEO of Perse Technology said: “This is yet another example of the energy market creating unintended adverse consequences that block competition where, once again, it is the consumer who loses. Thankfully, independent data focused companies such as Perse, can bring to light such issues. We urge energy suppliers and if necessary, Ofgem, to prioritise solving this. It’s been years since many households could save by switching. When finally, cheaper tariffs are starting to return, everyone deserves to benefit.” Octopus Energy OVO British Gas E.ON UK EDF (UK) ScottishPower Ofgem Elexon Kathryn Porter Matt Roderick Ian Barker Katie Watts Thanks to ElectraLink Ltd. for the graph below