Electricity Switching Rebounded in June

After a lacklustre spring, electricity switching recovered in June, as Britons facing increased energy bills and tightened incomes searched for a better deal.

The latest figures from Electralink’s Energy Market Data Hub reveal that 470,000 electricity switches were completed last month, up 6% from June 2019.

That’s also up 8% from the three-year low in switching recorded in May, according to Electralink’s figures.

Trade body Energy UK also recorded a dismal spring for switching, typically one of the most active times for choosing a new energy supplier. Just 410,000 households moved to a new electricity supplier in May, down 15% from the year before. And May was a more active month than April. Deep in the doldrums of lockdown, Britons switched electricity supplier 29% less in April than they did the same month the year before.

The depressed switching figures during lockdown had been variously attributed to consumers preoccupied with coronavirus worries and energy suppliers adjusting to having staff working from home. 

However, with daytime electricity consumption up 30% during lockdown, according to separate analyses from suppliers OVO and Bulb, finding a better energy deal has become more important than ever.

Electralink also suggests that it’s June figures aren’t revealing the full picture of a reawakening market. It says its data reveals that 631,000 switches were initiated in June, up 14% year-on-year and a staggering 24% more than in May. The large discrepancy between switches started and completed suggests that many switches were initiated late in the month, as some normality returned to the UK, and that suppliers, with many staff still working from home, may still be a little slow processing switches.

However, Electralink said suppliers are prioritising switching requests and clearing the backlog.

EnergyUK’s data also showed switching is up, but more modestly. The trade body recorded 450,000 switches last month, up 1% from June 2019 and the first time switching has increased year-on-year since lockdown began.

However, the slow spring will continue to have an impact on overall switching figures for the year. Energy UK’s figures show that three million households moved to a new electricity supplier in the first half of 2020, down 4% compared to the first half of 2019. Unless switching continues to increase over the second half of the year and a second wave of coronavirus is kept at bay, 2020’s switching figures won’t challenge the record 6.4 million switches recorded in 2019.

Meanwhile, the Big Six continues to haemorrhage customers to challenger brands, Electralink found. 40% of June 2020’s switches were away from the largest energy suppliers to smaller competitors, 19% more than in June last year.