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Energy supplier switching in August remained above 2022’s average levels as the uncertainty around global energy prices continued to concern British households and businesses. Changes of supplier (CoS) completed in August reached 119,000 – three percent less than July 2022 but still the third highest month this year so far.

ElectraLink analysts identified that many switches in the first half of August occurred where customers were looking to fix their monthly costs amid the forecasts of the next standard variable tariff (SVT) price cap. Ofgem announced this on 26 August, further fuelling speculation around future price cap rises.

Since then, on 8 September the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, confirmed SVTs will be capped at £2,500 per year for the average household for two years. Customers already on fixed deals higher than the new price cap will receive a discount to reduce their costs to the price cap level, the Guardian reports.

855,000 CoS have completed so far this year – almost three million fewer than for the same period in 2021.

The average monthly switching total is 107,000 since January.

Chart showing switches completed in GB until August 2022. Switches were in the hundreds of thousands for years but since October 2021 have slumped to just a few thousand a month

In terms of supplier types, small and medium suppliers (aka ‘Other’ in ElectraLink terms) saw an increase in CoS between one another as well as to them from Large suppliers due to their fixed price offers. Meanwhile switching between Large suppliers decreased, as did CoS to Large from Other brands.

  • Large to Large switches reached 53,000 – seven percent less than July 2022 and 45 percent of August 2022’s total CoS completed,
  • Large to Other switches reached 35,000 – seven percent more than July 2022 and 29 percent of August 2022’s total CoS completed,
  • Other to Large switches landed at 18,000 – 22 percent less than July 2022 and 15 percent of August 2022’s total CoS completed,
  • And Other to Other switches hit 13,000 – 39 percent more than July 2022 and 11 percent of August 2022’s total CoS completed.

Chart showing swtiches completed by switch type in GB until August 2022

For more information on CoS figures, or to find out how your organisation can access the CoS data we hold and provide for the energy market, contact [email protected].

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NOTES:

The above figures relate to electricity CoS in Great Britain only.

We do not include CoS from SoLR processes or trade sales in our monthly CoS reporting. We account for only voluntary switches, or instances where the customer made an active decision and took action to change supplier.

All data is provided by EMPRIS.

Due to the introduction of the Central Switching Service in July 2022, ElectraLink is no longer able to provide data on switches started or forecasts for how many switches will complete.

ElectraLink has been granted the governance protections to hold, transfer and analyse CoS and other data.