A couple who are taking on the Big Six energy firms with a consumer-owned company have pre-registered more than 4,500 customers. New users will begin to receive gas and electricity from People’s Energy across the UK as the company begins trading. David Pike, 53, and Karin Sode, 47, were so fed up with existing energy firms that they decided to raise £500,000 to do something about it. Over the past year they have raised money through crowdfunding, secured an Ofgem licence, won an entrepreneurial and innovation award and built a team from their base in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh. They are now open for business and keen to sign up new customers for their ethical energy supplies. Their promise is to put one million people in charge of their own energy by 2024 and provide an alternative for those who have lost trust in the traditional energy suppliers. People’s Energy gives 75 per cent of profits back to its customers, who are represented on the board of directors. Ofgem data compiled by the energy provider Bulb found that customers of the Big Six energy companies have paid an extra £7.3 billion in the past five years, when the rates they paid were compared with the best tariffs available. Bills for customers using British Gas, SSE, E.on, Npower, EDF and Scottish Power were on average £853 higher over that period. Hayden Wood, the Bulb co-founder, said: “Loyalty towards a brand is often rewarded, yet households who’ve put their trust for years in a single energy company are being forced to subsidise others who switch every 12 months.”
Times 29th Aug 2017 read more »
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