Energy

Ecotricity benefits from customer dissatisfaction with ‘big six’

Published

10 years ago

January 12, 2015

Blue & Green Tomorrow

Renewable energy firm Ecotricity has revealed that it has almost doubled in size over the last 12 months, having benefitted from customer dissatisfaction with the ‘big six’ energy companies.

The firm has now reached 150,000 customers, almost double the figure it had at the beginning of 2014. The news is part of a trend that has seen over two million customers leave ‘big six’ energy suppliers and many have opted for smaller firms that generally have greater levels of customer satisfaction.

The big six hit headlines towards the end of 2013 when they hiked energy prices, blaming green levies and global wholesale costs. However, energy secretary Ed Davey questioned whether some firms’ profit margins were too high. In June, complaints to the biggest energy suppliers also hit a record high.

Additionally, smaller companies pushed the big six out of the best buy tables.

Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder, said, “It’s been another watershed year for the industry. People have been fed up with the big six for a long time, that’s not new – it’s just that more people than ever are doing something about it and changing suppliers.

“Quicker switching helps, but 2014 was a year where millions of people simply said enough is enough and looked for an alternative to the big six.”

Vince continued that he believed people were choosing Ecotricity for its green energy supply, customer service, and ethical pricing policy that allows every customer to get the latest best price.

Citigroup investment bank has previously suggested that the UK’s largest energy suppliers may lose up to a quarter of their customers by 2020 and see profits collectively fall by £500 million a year due to increasing competition from small energy suppliers.

Photo: lamoix via Flickr