Switching energy provider would have saved users €1,700 over past four years

Irish consumers who have failed to shop around for the best value electricity and gas over the past four years have wasted as much as €1,700 by not switching to the cheapest providers on the market, a new report has found.

The research published by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) was able to show that active customers who switched supplier or renegotiated with their current supplier every year over the past four years could have saved €704 on gas, €1,097 on electricity or €1,696 on their dual fuel costs.

The CRU also published the results of its annual independent audit of the three accredited energy price comparison websites operating in the Irish energy market.

It looked at www.bonkers.ie, www.switcher.ie and www.powertoswitch.ie and found that all three websites remained in compliance with the current accreditation framework.

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It said independent price comparison services were “an important tool for customers to compare energy suppliers with an assurance that the information is provided in an accurate, reliable, transparent and impartial manner”.

Overall the findings of the CRU’s audit demonstrated a “high standard” of compliance with the PCW accreditation framework and by continuing to monitor price comparison websites’ compliance, the CRU said it was “ensuring that customers are protected when engaging with the market”.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic has had an adverse effect on the traditionally high levels of switching in the first half of 2019, these have shown positive signs of recovery,” said CRU chairwoman Aoife MacEvilly.

She said “accredited switching websites are an important tool for customers to help them make the best decisions on what is the best energy supplier for them”.

“Switching supplier allows customers to fully benefit from competition in the energy market place, and we would encourage all customers to shop around to see what is the best deal for them.”