Why I haven't got the energy to switch

I’m not the only one worried about way-above-inflation rises in energy costs. I heard it all from an old dear who stopped me in the street the other day. Family and friends complain about it. You read about it in the news. Every week, a different supplier comes out with a press release saying they’ve had to put up their prices.

So when I calculated our energy consumption for the past year, I thought it was time to look into switching. Despite the good news that we’ve cut our gas consumption by 12%, our electricity usage increased by 4%.

We’re with Scottish Power on their H2O dual fuel tariff. We switched to them four years ago, specifically for their green energy tariff. Believing there would be more competition in the market now, I was confident I could get a better deal while sticking to our eco-credentials. I was wrong.

According to SwitchwithWhich, I could save hundreds of pound a year – as long as I didn’t want green electricity. Insisting on that was bad news: they could only find me suppliers that would cost me more.

Good Energy was 20% more expensive than Scottish Power. I know they source 100% renewable energy, but their costs are unaffordable to the mainstream. Ecotricity was even higher.

I’d read about Ovo in a Which? Report – a fairly new, small and independent player who offers two simple options, one of which is a green tariff. Their site said they could save me money, but they didn’t show up on the Which comparison. They featured on the USwitch one, but the savings were much smaller than claimed by the supplier. And then there was the small print about fixed contract and cancellation fees. Plus negative user reviews online…

My interest was raised by LoCO2 Energy. They have a range of very novel tariffs to suit deep greens as well as those wanting fairly-priced electricity that is 100% renewable or low carbon. According to USwitch, they can save me money, so why haven’t I switched?

At £1 a week less for the year, it’s not worth it – for now at least. The company’s only been around a couple of years and while I’m all for diversity and supporting independents trying to do things differently, we’re also very cautious and great believers in recommendations. And I can’t find any customer reviews about them.

So, we’ll stick with what we have at the moment, but only for temporary peace of mind. We’ll review again next year and if I hear positive news about the smaller independents with the sensible prices, we’ll seriously consider switching.

In the meantime, the emphasis for us has to be on reducing our consumption of electricity. As 10:10 and the Mayday Network remind us, reduced use really is the key to cutting costs and environmental impacts.


Debbie Griffiths www.idealCSR.co.uk