Ofgem wants customers to be able to switch energy supplier reliably in one day by 2020 and is planning to produce a work programme in 2018 to deliver that objective. Now it has asked the industry for views on the how the change to next-day switching should be delivered.
The regulator thinks there will be a net benefit to customers of up to a billion pounds from the faster switching programme in the period 2018-2035 . In fact, the largest part of that saving – between £100 million and £250 million, depending on the reform package – will arise from making switches more reliable. Ofgem says lack of reliability is a ‘particular barrier’ to customer switching. Consumer time savings and bill savings will add £100 million to that. But Ofgem also expects better switching to ‘act as a catalyst for innovation, both from current players and new entrants with different business models’.
The regulator has published plans for reform that would see a central switching service set up, managed by DCC, the smart meter hub. It wants responses on its proposals by 3 November.