Published: 06/06/2017
COPELAND residents are being offered an average saving of £148 through the borough's latest energy buying scheme - and research shows these savings will go back into the local economy.
The second round of the Copeland Big Switch has just closed and research reveals 63 per cent of energy switchers say they would spend the savings locally.
Copeland Council has been offering residents a collective energy switching scheme for around six months. It uses group buying power to get the best price from energy suppliers who compete for the business.
iChoosr, which runs the scheme, surveyed switchers, and asked where they planned to spend the savings they had made. Almost two thirds (63%) claimed they would spend the money in their local economy.
David Moore, Copeland Council's portfolio holder for nuclear and corporate services, said: "It's fantastic to see another group of Copeland residents being offered great savings through this scheme. Now is the ideal time, especially for those on standard tariffs, to switch. Residents could secure a great rate for the year ahead, at a time when many will now be feeling the impact of the standard variable tariff increases announced in the previous few months. It's also great to hear that those savings could well end up boosting the local economy - that's a win-win."
George Frost of iChoosr added: “Nationally, households gathered together by their local councils have saved over £27m. This suggests collective energy switching schemes run by councils are diverting more than £17m of households’ budgets from their energy bill to their local economies."
In the most recent scheme, residents will be offered exclusive fixed Dual Fuel rates from SSE and Electricity Only rates from Green Star Energy. OVO Energy will be offered to prepayment meter residents.
Copeland householders who signed up for the latest round of the Copeland Big Switch could save an average of £147.57 each following an auction between energy companies. The council partnered with iChoosr, a leading expert in collective energy switching, and together were able to deliver bespoke and highly competitive tariffs.
The winner of the Dual Fuel auction category, SSE, will supply both online and paper billing options to residents, as will Green Star Energy for electricity only contracts. The tariffs are exclusive to residents of our partner councils and scheme members, and are not available direct from the suppliers or via price comparison services.
Residents with prepayment meters will be offered either Dual Fuel or Electricity Only contracts from Ovo Energy which states that all its tariffs come with at least 33 per cent renewable electricity as standard.
In Copeland, 118 households registered in this second round . The Copeland Big Switch was combined with other similar initiatives around the UK to create a collective of more than 55,000 households.
Exclusive offer extended for Copeland residents:
Households in Copeland who haven’t yet signed up can still access the exclusive deals secured through the collective by signing up today at www.copeland.gov.uk. They can do this right up until the offer expires on July 11.
George Frost from iChoosr continued, “Five of the ‘Big 6’ suppliers – those which supply most households – have increased their standard variable tariffs now, and the sixth is expected to follow suit in August. After more than three years of falling energy prices, the price hikes are now hitting households in the pocket. Households that have never switched, or at least not recently, will see the biggest savings. For those in fixed term contracts, sadly you may pay more but you can protect yourself from further rises by fixing your tariff now until the summer of 2018.
Residents will soon get their personal offer letters or emails letting them know if they’ll be saving against their current deal – and if so how much money will be going back into their pocket, and perhaps into the local economy.
There is no obligation for people to accept their offer, but if they do the new provider will take care of the whole switching process.
For more information visit www.copeland.gov.uk.
