Blog Post

Number of Energy Supplier switches reaches 3 million and Number of Smart Meter Installations has surpassed 1.2 million so far in 2021

Richard Simmonds • July 29, 2021

The latest data released by Electralink shows that the number of consumers switching their energy supplier fell just short of 3 million in the first half of 2021 and the number of smart meter installations surpassed 1.2 million.

Consumers seeking better energy deals

The number of change of supplier (cos) requests submitted in the first six months of 2021 is 3% higher than the number recorded in the preceding year.

June’s figure, however, showed a 5% decline on a year on year basis with 436,000 switches completed. It marks the lowest change of supplier figure since 2017. Switches started in June also showed a year on year decline with 588,000 or 6% lower than 2020’s figure.

Concerns over finances and increasing speculation in the media over rising energy bill prices has likely caused many consumers to stick with their current supplier as they believe that their current fixed tariffs are the best option available at the moment.

The number of completed switches for July is expected to number 450,000 in July, a figure that according to ElectraLink analysts is a decrease on the previous two years.

Also read: 6 Reasons Why Consumers Switch Energy Suppliers

Larger suppliers see increases

Smaller energy suppliers suffered a bit of a setback in June in terms of switching as the larger suppliers received the bulk of new customers but overall, on an annual basis, the number of switches from large suppliers to other supplier types increased.

The number of large to large switches reached 211,000 making up 48% of June’s switches and was up 22% on a year on year basis. Large to smaller supplier switches meanwhile numbered 117,000 making up 27% of the total and was down 33% on a year on year basis.

Also read: How to convince consumers to switch to a smaller energy supplier

Smart Meter Installations increased strongly in June

242,000 smart meters were installed in June 2021 taking the total number of installations for the year so far to 1.2 million.

In June 2020 the number of smart meter installations fell to record low levels as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown that saw restrictions imposed on non-urgent meter work. With the lifting of restrictions, engineers were able to enter customers homes resulting in the 2021 figure being 250% higher than 2020’s.

Energy suppliers have stepped up their efforts to install smart meters to meet their All Reasonable Steps (ARS) obligation. Due to the impacts of Covid, the government and Ofgem announced that the obligation has been extended until the 31^st of December.

After that date, energy suppliers will have to hit installation targets set out by the regulator. If they fail to hit those targets they will be in breach of their licencing conditions.

“The government expressed its view that Covid-19 has impacted on suppliers’ abilities to meet the ARS obligation, and suppliers told the government that Covid-19 has also impacted on their ability to prepare for the new four-year framework, due to come in once the ARS obligation ends. The framework would set energy suppliers annual, individual installation targets on a trajectory to 100% coverage, subject to an annual tolerance level. For the domestic rollout, the tolerance levels are Year 1 = 3.5% and Year 2= 5.1%. For the non-domestic, Year 1= 6.1%; Year 2= 8.3%,” said an analyst from Cornwall Insight.

Also read: Total number of DCC connected Smart Meters surpassed 12.5 million in June

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