Our Industry

The residential market was opened to competition progressively between September 1998 and May 1999.

Suppliers are spending substantial amounts of money on marketing electricity and gas. In 2003 energy suppliers spent a total £31 million on advertising.

Customer satisfaction rates increased in 2003 to 77% (electricity) and 83% (gas).

CHANGING SUPPLIER

Since competition began in the gas market in May 1998, around 10 million (47%)out of British Gas 20 million domestic customers have switched to another gas supplier and 13 million (51%) electricity customers out of 26 million domestic customers have changed supplier.

This compares favourably with the 70% of customers who have remained with BT for their telephone service despite privatisation twenty years ago.

An average of 150,000 customers changed supplier each week between October and December 2003

Customers who have not switched could save around £75 on average for a duel fuel deal, providing they shop around for the best offer

Ofgem reports that all customers are switching supplier at similar rates, whatever their income, age or social class.

VULNERABLE GROUPS

Older disabled and chronically ill customers are entitled to additional free services through the Priority Service Register, such as gas safety checks, modified meters, third party billing, security password schemes for meter reading visits, and energy savings advice.

Most households spend about 4-5% of their income a year on energy.

An estimated three million households in the UK would need to spend 10% or more of their income to maintain comfort conditions throughout their home.

Number of housholds in fuel poverty

Year	1996	1998	2001
Total	5.5	4.5	3.0
Vulnerable	4.0	3.5	2.0

DEBT

There are 1,202,254 electricity and 1,168,115 gas customers in debt in 2003.

Number of customers using prepayment meters has remained unchanged in 2002 and 2003 at 2 million gas and 3.7 million electricity customers

Around a third of gas a sixth of electricity prepayment meter customers are repaying a debt

Last year 15,973 gas customers and 1,361 electricity customers were disconnected for debt.

Disconnections fell by 27% in 2003, partly as a result of a steep drop in disconnection activity in the final quarter of the year. Electricity disconnections remain at a low level.

PRICES

In real terms average prices have fallen since privatisation by 32% for gas and by 25% for electricity. This has led to British customers benefiting from some of the lowest prices for gas and electricity in Europe.

A typical domestic bill reflects the costs of supplying electricity, which include generation, transmission, distribution and supply costs (billing and meter reading). In addition, suppliers also recover through the electricity bill the cost of their environmental obligations.

SUSTAINABILITY

Through the Energy Efficiency Commitment energy suppliers have a statutory obligation to spend £3.20 per customer on energy savings measures, such as cavity wall insulation and low energy light bulbs.

Energy suppliers are committed to reducing deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning by 20% before 2010.

The Government’s Energy White Paper - Our energy future – creating a low carbon economy – set four overall aims for UK energy policy:

to put the UK on a path to cut the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions - the main contributor to global warming - by some 60% by about 2050 with real progress by 2020;

to maintain the reliability of energy supplies;

to promote competitive markets in the UK and beyond, helping to raise the rate of sustainable economic growth and to improve our productivity; and to ensure that every home is adequately and affordably heated.