'Surprise call from Ed Davey, Energy Minister – on collective switc' blog discussion

pqrdef

Hang on, I thought the energy companies were the collective purchasers. They keep tabs on the market and buy from the cheapest producers to give their customers the best prices - wasn't that the idea?

If we're going to have new collective purchasers, can't they cut out the middlemen - the big 6 - and go straight to the producers?

How do we end up not going round in circles?

Consumerist

A good idea, in principle, but I'm not so sure whether MSE should get involved in collective switching.

It seems to me that MSE-users are already getting the better deals by dint of being properly advised before making switching decisions. Can MSE do any better with collective switching for energy customers who are already well informed and are making informed switching decisions?

lostinrates

smala01 wrote: »

What energy company would have the man power or IT systems to be able to "switch" a batch of many 10,000's customers in a short time.

I consulted for a major energy company a few years ago. The fallout rate for a switching customer (needed to call an operator, or in some way fell out of the automated system) was 1 in 3.

It would take many months - even years to get that number of customers switched without effecting "normal" business.

Even if an energy company agreed to this tarrif, it would have to recruit lots of "temp" staff - the service level for those 1 in 3 "fall-outs" would be terrible.

MSE be careful for what you wish for.

P.S. A better solution would be to threaten a mass switch (motivation) but then negociate an MSE tarrif with each of the major providers. (switch tarrif not provider)

Smala01

We have been trying to change electricity supplier for eighteen months, but it keeps not hPpening. It took thirteen months to get off a business tariff with our supplier too. Their hopeless inefficiency has won out...we still pay them every month

Consumerist

Now, this might be entirely unconnected but I see that London Borough of Lambeth has been granted a gas supply licence. Is it possible that local authorities might get involved in collective switching?

smala01

kolofarthos wrote: »

I do not see there will be a problem with mass switchover. IT systems can handle big transaction numbers and not everyone would switch on the same day! Handling a new set of 10m bills might be another issue and assurances would need to be sought via the tender process on quality of service as well as cost.

I dont think you quite understand the complexity of the changes process. No company has it 100% automated.

For example if your closing meter reading is out of tolerance for your type of house if will be bounced to a human to work out whats going on. A computer cannot ascertain the difference between you taking a 3 month holiday Vs you misreading your meter.

Similary your change will fail if you have any debt on your old account. This usually requires a call to an operative and 1 hour of investigative work to determine the root cause.

I could go on but i think you get the picture.

(Of course companies could just hire some more people in India to sort the switch)

Smala01