Power cut £171!

QUIDS in: Councillor Arooj Shah celebrates “Power to the People” saving residents an average £171

That’s the average saving for Oldham’s Power to the People signees
OLDHAM’S Power to the People scheme is set to put around £1.4 million back into residents’ pockets.

The Oldham Council-led energy switching initiative has resulted in overall average savings per household of £171 a year: one customer is set to save up to £779.

The collective bargaining campaign saw 8,726 households register ahead of last Sunday’s deadline, before an auction was held on Monday in which energy firms were invited to offer their lowest price for gas and electricity.

The auction produced two winning bidders: Ovo Energy for online billing, with average savings for participants of £176 and £165 respectively; and Co-operative Energy for paper billing with average savings of £156 and £182.

Councillor Arooj Shah, assistant cabinet member at Oldham Council, said: “An average saving of £171 for the first run of our collective energy switching scheme is an absolutely fantastic result.”

“Looking ahead, we are delighted the 10 local authorities in Greater Manchester agreed to join forces in a new collective scheme to build on this success.

“I’d urge anyone who missed out this time to look out for details soon on how to register for that first regional switching scheme in January.”

Oldham Council leader, Councillor Jim McMahon, added: “As a local authority we’ve got no direct control over energy prices but, as we also recently did with local bus fares, we decided to campaign on behalf of residents. The end result here is a fairer outcome that will put much-needed cash back into people’s pockets.”

Residents who registered will now receive personal proposals via email or letter within the next week containing an estimate of how much their household can save by switching. They are under no obligation to switch.

Due to the low number of registrants on pre-payment meters in Oldham — only 308 — no energy firm made a bid for this group of customers. Steps are now being taken to make some sort of offer to these customers.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority members — covering around 1.2 million households — will build on Oldham’s Power to the People scheme. If you wish to receive an email notifying you when registration for this scheme opens fill in a short form online at www.oldham.gov.uk/fairenergy.