More Customers are Choosing the Smaller Suppliers

In April 2014 289,000 consumers' switched energy suppliers, with almost half choosing smaller suppliers over the 'Big Six'. Despite this, the large suppliers still dominant the market with a 94.6% share - however this has fallen from 99.4% in January 2011.

The report comes amid mounting pressure on the industry to prove that there is a healthy level of competition within the retail and wholesale energy markets, following calls from the regulator for a full investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority.

"Once again, the monthly electricity switching report has shown that switching is on the up," said Energy UK in a statement.

"This is the sixth month in a row that the percentage of all switching being a move to small supplier has increased. This shows that there is plenty of choice out there and the public are making the most of it," the group added.

The number of energy customers moving to small suppliers in April was 135,000, or 46.88% of all those who opted to change providers. But it is hoped that the CMA probe will result in even stronger growth for independent suppliers.

The small suppliers OVO Energy and First Utility are frequently top of the best deal lists for the cheapest home energy deals. - check them out at GET ME CHEAP BILLS.COM

Citizens Advice Proposal

In light of the increase of transfers to the smaller suppliers, Citizen's Advice have proposed that energywatch, Consumer Focus and Consumer Futures publish rankings of ALL energy suppliers to give consumers access to accurate and impartial information. Giving consumer's access to this information empowers them to make informed decisions about their energy supplier, and gives the companies incentive to continually improve their performance as they are ranked on their performance. Up until now this has only been limited to the 'Big Six' but Citizen Advice want to include the smaller suppliers in order to give the consumer a through and whole choice before switching.

Citizen's Advice are welcoming opinions and views on their proposals. Response should be emailed to Graeme.maclachlan@citzensdvice.org.uk.This should be provided before July 9th as they wish to start publishing data towards the end of 2014.

Anyone wanting a free quotation from an independent and impartial price comparison site should visit GET ME CHEAP BILLS.COM to see how the smaller suppliers compare.

OFGEM unveil biggest ever investigation in to the energy market

By referring the heavily criticised power industry to the Competition and Market Authority, yesterday OFGEM put in to motion the biggest investigation yet into the energy market. There will be increased pressure on the Big Six as over the next 18 months the spotlight will be on them, as the CMA will determine whether British Gas, EDF, E.on, nPower, Scottish Power and SSE have been profiteering and should be broken up.

OFGEM believe that an investigation will ensure that competition has a positive effect for consumers, by bringing down prices and driving improvements in customer service

Dermot Nolan, OFGEM Chief Executive, said: "Now is the right time to refer the energy market to the CMA for the benefit of consumers. There is near-unanimous support for a referral and the CMA investigation offers an important opportunity to clear the air. This will help rebuild consumer trust and confidence in the energy market as well as provide the certainty investors have called for. The energy market is also going to change rapidly over the next few years with the roll-out of smart meters, the government's electricity market reforms, and closer integration with European energy markets. A CMA investigation should ensure there are no barriers to stop effective competition bearing down on prices and delivering the benefits of these changes to consumers."

The CMA will immediately begin their investigation and are likely to publish final decisions by the end of 2015. The CMA can decide which features of the market to focus on in its investigation and use its powers to address any structural and behavioural issues that would undermine competition.

OFGEM also pledged to carrying on working to protect consumers; continuing to push forward on next-day switching, working on the tools and support available to the most vulnerable of consumers in finding the best energy deal, and ensuring that consumers make the most of reforms to make the market simpler, clearer and fairer. 

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