The six-month moving average for energy supplier switches in the UK has stabilised at approximately 225,000 per month as of May 2024.
This figure is less than half of the average number of monthly switches recorded before 2021 when the market experienced a significant downturn due to multiple supplier failures.
Between early 2019 and late 2021, the average monthly switches ranged from 480,000 to 550,000.
The decline has led to extensive discussions within public and industry circles, particularly following Ofgem’s consultation on the potential removal of the ban on acquisition-only tariffs.
The proposal has faced opposition from both consumers and industry leaders, who argue that removing the ban may not necessarily lead to better energy deals for customers.
ElectraLink data suggests that factors such as lower introductory tariffs contribute to higher switching rates.
ElectraLink’s Chief Data Officer Paul Linnane said: “Switching has been limited since the Covid-19 pandemic ebbed away and the energy price crisis emerged.
“Whilst the recent increase in switching (in April) highlights that demand for cheaper and innovative tariffs is increasing, I believe that the BAT is still limiting that demand. ElectraLink’s switching data identifies that the majority of consumers would be outside their fixed term with their supplier.
“Furthermore, our analysis of our unique switching dataset highlights that pre-energy crisis, the time window between a consumer switch reduces every time a customer switches.
“Therefore, with all customers currently outside of their fixed tariff window, we’d actually expect to see “record levels” of switching if acquisition tariffs were available.”
