The energy suppliers have stated they are committed to reducing the current five week switching time down to around two and a half weeks by the end of the year.
The commitment from the suppliers comes as a result of work announced in the annual energy statement in October last year, when energy secretary Ed Davey stated he wanted suppliers to work collaboratively to make switching faster.
On the commitment to cut switching times to two and a half weeks, Davey said: “Faster switching is the latest of the many steps we’ve taken to improve the poorly performing energy markets we inherited from Ed Miliband in 2010.”
The proposed changes to electricity and gas code modifications, which are needed to allow faster switching to take place, have been referred to Ofgem, and Davey said this will give the suppliers time to change their IT systems.
The energy secretary also restated his aim to cut switching times even further.
He said: “While it’s great news we are making energy switching twice as fast, my long term ambition remains to get 24 hour switching.”
Angela Knight, chief executive at Energy UK said that switching is “already simple” and more than a quarter of a million customers are changing their supplier every month.
She added: “The energy industry believes in faster switching and will make it a reality for customers as quickly as we can and as soon as the legal and technical challenges are overcome.”