A record number of energy customers switched between small and mid-tier suppliers in August, the latest switching figures from Energy UK show.
In total, of the 564,814 switches which took place last month, 162,043 customers switched between the smallest suppliers in the market.
This represents 29 per cent of total switches.
Of those who did switch 36 per cent were from larger to small and mid-tier suppliers, 12 per cent from small and mid-tier to larger suppliers while 23 per cent were between larger suppliers.
While the numbers switching from small/mid-tier to large had seen a spike in July – to 82,680 – last month it fell back to 69,640.
Energy UK says the latest figures show switching is up 15 per cent on August 2018. So far in 2019 more than 4 million people have switched, up 11 per cent on the same time last year when a record 5.8 million switched supplier.
Speaking in response to the results, outgoing chief executive of Energy UK Lawrence Slade said: “With over 4 million customers switching supplier so far this year, it is positive to see that customers remain confident in switching and are reaping the benefits of increasing competition.
“And with around 60 suppliers on the market, customers have now more choice and services offered to them than ever before.”
Speaking at an event hosted by Ombudsman Services this week Audrey Gallacher, director of policy at Energy UK, predicted that up to 10,000 jobs are expected to be lost in energy retail this year as the industry struggles to adapt to the price cap.
Gallacher said the cap had left companies with little scope to invest in the innovation and new technologies that would ultimately make them more efficient. She added the next stage of the debate needed to centre on ways to achieve these efficiency savings.
Yet Clementine Cowton, Octopus Energy’s director of external affairs, said the price cap was “absolutely working”.
She added: “You see what is happening in the market – the Npower/SSE deal breaking down and the latter being taken over by a very good, newer entrant to the market; the howls of protest about loss of profits from those bigger companies; switching rates increasing – the perceived norms are changing.
“Having the price cap in place makes people think – ‘what’s the worst that could happen, I’ll try another energy provider and if I end up on the price cap, I’m no worse off’.”