June marked a jump in the number of households switching energy suppliers as market competition heated up thanks to falling prices.
Some 170,636 customers switched to a new supplier last month, up 77% on a year earlier when firms were reluctant to offer competitive deals due to higher wholesale energy costs.
57% of the switches were between larger suppliers, including British Gas, Bulb, EDF, E.ON, Octopus, OVO and Scottish Power, according to industry body Energy UK.
Smaller and mid-sized suppliers made leeway though, gaining 4,747 new customers over the month, equating to around 3.3% of switches.
“It is worth noting that this data is from the last month before the price cap fell below the Energy Price Guarantee,” Energy UK said in a report.
Since Ofgem’s price cap, which determines how much suppliers can charge per unit of energy, fell below the government guarantee on July 1, analysts have tipped that better deals will appear.
Ofgem set the cap at £2,074 for the three months from July, while the government's guarantee rose to £3,000, prompting the first fall in prices for around 20 months.
As a result, suppliers have indeed taken to offering more competitive rates, with British Gas recently launching a fixed tariff for an average of £1,099 – offering savings if prices soar again this winter.
“With energy prices dropping, but remaining well above pre-crisis levels, there is a slow upwards trend in switching numbers,” Energy UK added.
However, these remain below pre-energy crisis levels, the group warned, with over 5 million people switching in 2021, compared to just 1.3 million last year.