The number of business customers switching their water retailer has risen by 40% in 2021/22 compared to the previous year, whilst the number of newly registered supply points (SPIDs) also grew in the same period.
Figures collated by the market operator MOSL showed the number of non-household customers opting to change supplier jumped from 64,363 in 2020/21 to 84,083 in 2021/21. However the switching numbers have yet to return to pre-pandemic rate of 96,973 in 2019/20.
New registrations also recovered during the year after falling during the 2020/21 lockdown year, with 23,612 new registrations in 2021/22 up from 21,274 the previous year. In the lockdown year new SPID registrations dropped by 10,000 compared to 2019/20.
Since the retail market opened in 2017, engagement by customers has remained low, with many businesses continuing to be supplied by their incumbent supplier.
During the fourth quarter of 2021/22, MOSL said market performance standards (MPS) remained high but there was a dip in performance as some retailers continued for face problems due to meter reader availability because of Covid-19.
An audit is underway relating to completeness of meter reading data and consistency of vacancy data between retailer systems and MOSL’s central operating system (CMOS), which is due to complete by the end of May.