Irish households urged to switch energy providers to save over €2,000

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) today launches a new campaign to encourage consumers across Ireland to take action and switch energy supplier as research shows customers who switched to the best available discount tariff, or who renegotiated every year, for the past 4 years could have saved almost €2,500 on their energy bills.

The new ‘Switch it Up” campaign – which features a series of awareness initiatives and advertisements – has been launched to encourage people to take action with regards to energy bills and usage, as they could have saved €1,700 on their electricity bills and €740 on gas, if they switched supplier each year for the previous four years.

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The campaign outlines how changing supplier remains one of the fastest and most effective ways to secure better tariffs and savings on bills. The CRU will also highlight a range of other actions for consumers, including using Smart Meters to sign up to a Time of Use tariff that suits your energy use to allow you to better control your energy bills.

Launching the CRU ‘Switch it Up’ campaign, Karen Trant, Director of Consumer Policy and Protection with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities said:

“The campaign is about empowering consumers to make the right decisions when it comes to their energy supplier. Research shows customers could have saved almost €2,500 on their energy bills over the past 4 years by switching.

“However, on average only 20% of electricity customers have switched supplier, meaning almost 1.7 million customers do not switch electricity supplier when they can on an annual basis. We encourage all consumers to engage with their energy suppliers, whether through switching, negotiating, or simply checking in to see what options are available to them.

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“Every consumer has the power. As the energy watchdog, empowering and protecting the consumer is at the heart of everything we do, ensuring consumers’ voices are reflected in policy development, implementation and enforcement.

“With energy costs at the forefront of many people’s minds, the CRU encourages customers to regularly check deals and offers available on any CRU-accredited price comparison website. These resources ensure people can stay up-to-date and informed on the best tariff rates available in the market.”

The CRU also recently published a decision on Additional Customer Protection Measures for Household Electricity and Gas customers for the forthcoming winter, which sees measures remaining in place to address the continuing financial pressures faced by energy customers.

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These measures include discounted tariffs for financial hardship metered customers, promotion of the vulnerable customer register, minimum timelines for debt repayment plans, and debt repayment on pay-as-you-go top-ups.