21% changed electricity suppliers in 2009

INCREASED COMPETITION led one in five Irish electricity customers to switch supplier during 2009, higher than anywhere else in Europe, a new survey says.

The VaasaETT Utility Customer Switching Research Project, which covers 33 fully deregulated markets, shows that in 2009, almost 21 per cent of all electricity customers in the Republic of Ireland, switched supplier.

This was 2 per cent more than in Britain, making it the highest in of all European countries surveyed. The average across all markets covered by the study was 6.12 per cent, the survey says.

VaasaETT, a global energy think tank based in Helsinki, Finland, says it was the first time that a country other than Britain topped the European league for utility switching.

The organisation says that the turnaround for the Republic was “surprising” given the fact that it had been a former laggard in the rankings.

The entry of Bord Gáis and Airtricity into the household electricity market helped to propel the Republic up the rankings.

The survey points out that between February 2009 and February 2010, Bord Gáis Energy managed to take 21 per cent of all residential electricity customers in the Republic, making it the most successful campaign of its kind ever.

The organisation says that while both companies focused their marketing on domestic users, their campaigns helped to raise awareness of competition among businesses as well.

“Energy companies typically fail to achieve sufficiently simple, clear and appealing campaigns,” the survey says.

“Energy may seem like a simple product to sell but few companies have ever managed to win many customers in this market. Ireland’s outstanding marketing has made all the difference,” it adds.

Bord Gáis entered the domestic market in direct competition with the ESB in 2009 with its Big Switch campaign.

The company, originally set up to supply natural gas, had already been selling electricity to business and industrial users.

Both it and Airtricity offer gas and electricity to domestic users. The ESB is due to begin selling gas to householders in the New Year.

Bord Gáis recently began generating electricity at a new €400 million gas-fired plant which it built in Whitegate, Co Cork.

It is also a major wind farm developer.

The Commission for Energy Regulation sets the prices at which the ESB sells electricity to consumers and small business and at which Bord Gáis can sell natural gas to the same customers.

Those markets are likely to be fully deregulated next year.