Why you should change your electricity supplier regularly is that it could save you a lot of money. Every month when you receive your bill, there is one percentage of your bill that you may be interested in trying to reduce. It’s called your ‘demand load’, and if you reduce it by reducing your consumption of electricity, then you will be able to save money each month. So, how can you do this? Just ask yourself, why you should change your electricity supplier regularly?
The first thing you need to think about is what an energy supplier has to do with your energy bills. They provide the gas and electricity that you use to keep your house warm and your appliances running. They are also responsible for passing on tax bills, for collecting other utility fees from you (such as water and sewer) and for maintaining the infrastructure that keeps your energy supply running smoothly. If anything goes wrong, the utility companies are not liable to compensate you – so why should they? Even if they are forced to pass on extra charges, it’s still better than having nothing at all.
You might think that if you’re paying a higher price for energy you would benefit from changing your energy supplier. And there are certainly many benefits to switching. For one thing, switching energy suppliers means you always have one monthly bill instead of several. It can reduce your dependence on your energy supplier by making you aware of prices increases and potential shortages. And, on top of this, if you have a solar or wind energy system on your property, then you’ll often find that your energy costs are lower than your annual electric bill.
But is it right for you? Should you switch energy suppliers every few months? And if so, why? The simple answer is that you shouldn’t. As we mentioned above, there are benefits associated with making the change – but there are also some potential drawbacks which you need to be aware of before you change.
Firstly, there’s the question of reliability. Believe it or not, your energy supplier is likely to be the same as your supplier for many years to come. They don’t use the cheapest technology, but they do rely on the same laws and regulations as your local council. It means that, in theory, they should be reliable enough to deliver reliable service – but that’s not the case most of the time. In fact, when it comes to maintaining their assets, they are more likely to default than your local council. So, while they may be the cheapest option, they could end up costing you more in the long run.
Another potential problem is that they won’t necessarily offer the best rates. This used to be an issue in the past, but it has become less of a problem in recent times due to the various deals available. A recent investigation found that almost half (49%) of those who changed their energy suppliers didn’t get the best price they wanted. Although this isn’t a huge problem on its own, it can mean that you pay more than you should.
You also have to take account of the risk involved in changing supplier. Many people aren’t keen to do this, simply because they don’t trust other companies. However, if you take a little bit of time to look into alternative energy options, you will find that many of them are far better for you. For example, you can easily change your energy supplier without any noticeable change in the bills that you pay. Also, if you don’t make the change for financial reasons, you will find that you won’t lose any money in the long run – although you may lose out on some of the benefits that switching energy suppliers will give you.
Before you decide that it is just not financially viable for you to make the change, consider whether there are any other cheaper options. One of the best things that you can do is to look online. There is an awful lot of information available for anyone who is looking to make the change. You should also bear in mind that you can often get a better deal online than you can offline. As long as you make sure that you read through everything thoroughly before you make the decision, you should be able to decide whether or not you should change your electricity supplier.
