Exeter Together hailed a success as more than 600 energy switches made
Over 300 households in Exeter switched energy suppliers as part of the recent Exeter Together initiative, making a collective saving of £35,325 across the city.
A total of 327 households took advantage of the scheme, making 621 switches (some taking advantage of better tariffs for both gas and electricity), with an average saving of £108.
The Exeter Together website and call centre registered 2,188 households considering the Exeter Together scheme. Not everyone, however, was able to make a big enough saving, with many 'smart savers' already enjoying good energy deals.
The pioneering national switching initiative saved the UK £282,000 on annual energy bills. In Exeter, the biggest individual saving saw one household reduce their energy bill by a staggering £839.
UK Together has announced the results of its first nationwide collective energy buying initiative with over 3,700 switches to better deals and UK savings of £282,000 on annual energy bills.
The first round of UK Together, the national collective switching initiative, closed at midnight on Sunday 17 March, with thousands of members saving hundreds of pounds on their energy bills.
In total the UK Together collective energy switching projects, Exeter Together, Cornwall Together, Birmingham and Solihull Together and Scots Together saw 3,794 switches to better energy deals. This resulted in 2,261 households across the UK benefiting from cheaper gas and electricity prices.
UK Together was developed from the success of Cornwall Together, a pilot collective energy buying project pioneered in Autumn 2012.
Councillor Rachel Sutton, Lead Councillor for Sustainable Development and Transport, said: “For the City Council, it was important for us to see what role we could play in helping local residents to collectively reduce their energy bills, and what lessons we could learn in how to bring people together to act for the common good.
"The Exeter Together project was a lot of hard work, but it has been successful in raising general awareness about the real cost of energy and in saving money, in some cases a substantial amount for residents.”
Exeter Together gained the support of MP Ben Bradshaw and TV personality Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Cllr Sutton added: "We employed a number of different ways to try to reach and inform as many people as possible. We are proud to have been one of only four communities in the UK to embrace this initiative which, while new, aimed to inspire people to start thinking about how they could potentially save hundreds of pounds on their energy bills.
"The results of an in-depth research project examining attitudes to energy will be released in the coming weeks and I look forward to finding out more about how we, as a Council, can help raise awareness locally about the benefits of switching in the future."
Conceived by the Eden Project, Cornwall Together was developed by Eden, Cornwall Council, the NHS and Community Energy Plus, aiming to bring people together to reduce fuel poverty, encourage sustainability and community resilience.
They were joined by Cornwall-based community energy platform, energyshare, and uSwitch, the independent price comparison and switching service, as well as local partners in each region including Exeter City Council, Birmingham City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Buy For Good and Changeworks.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change supported UK Together as part of its Cheaper Energy Together programme.
Those who would like to register their interest in being involved in any future rounds of UK Together can still do so by visiting the website (www.UKtogether.com).
