Wolverhampton City Council is urging local residents to use 'people power' to drive down their gas and electricity bills.

Until 15 October, 2013, they can join 'The Big Community Switch' - the latest collective energy switching scheme being run by Wolverhampton in conjunction with other councils across the UK.

People who are interested in switching energy suppliers register for The Big Community Switch online or by telephoning a dedicated number.

At the end of the registration period the energy companies are invited to join a reverse auction, where they outbid each other to offer the cheapest deal.

People who register are then given an offer from the winning company and can decide whether or not to switch. As The Big Energy Switch is a bulk buying scheme, the more people who take part, the better the deal should be.

Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Services said: "As local families face increasing household costs, making savings on essentials like electricity and gas can make a big difference.

"But getting a better deal from the energy companies needs a little 'people power'.

"It takes just a few minutes to register online, but those few minutes could make a big difference to household bills.

"As the saying goes, there's power in numbers, so the more people who sign up for The Big Community Switch, the better. If people registered for the last auction in June this year, it's worth their while to register again, as the offer will be different.

"There's no obligation to accept the winning company's offer - and if people find that the winners can't beat the tariff they're already on, at least they can be sure that they're getting a good deal from their suppliers.

"We know that in the last auction Wolverhampton residents saved £152 a year on average - and some have saved over £300.

"Considering that The Big Community Switch is free to enter and comes with no obligations, it's certainly worth a few minutes of anyone's time to register".

  • released: Tuesday 13 August, 2013