Utility hikes 'will prompt more switching'
Published On 25 January 2008
Recent price increases by several of the country's major utility suppliers will encourage more people to think about switching, an industry expert has said.Last week (January 18th) it was reported that British Gas was set to increase its prices by 15 per cent. This followed rises from EDF Energy. Utility suppliers blamed the hikes on soaring wholesale costs.
Tim Wolfenden, head of home services for uSwitch, has now said that these rises will prompt more people to start searching for a cheaper utility supplier and switch to them.
He explained: "I think the announcements will certainly kick off more switching. Certainly we’ve seen a bit of an uplift in switching on our site.
"The next trigger point I think will be when consumers actually see the impact in real terms.
"That's going to come in sort of March and April time when the next quarterly bill comes through for a lot of people."
Recently, consumer group Energywatch reported that around one in six Britons struggled to find the money to heat their own homes properly.
The data indicated that 4.4 million householders suffer from fuel poverty.
