A new community partnership is set to allow ‘fuel poor’ UK households to collectively switch to cheaper energy, theDepartment of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced.

Launched yesterday (5 February), the Cheaper Energy Together Community Partnership has been financed through £178,000 of government money. Made up of 30 not-for-profit organisations including charities, local authorities and housing associations, and led by thePeoplesPower, the project aims to provide a ‘collective and instant energy switching service to get households a better deal through the power of group buying’. It will also offer free energy-saving advice and support.

According to Cheaper Energy Together, the switching service will be free to consumers with a small referral fee (between £5 and £8) charged to energy suppliers. All referral fees will contribute to the cost of running the initiative.

UK households facing ‘fuel poverty’ are expected to benefit most from the project, as will those householders who have not switched energy supplier before.

Involving community and voluntary organisations based in and around the Midlands, the Community Partnership hopes to tackle some of the worse fuel poverty levels in England, including the West Midlands, where the fuel poverty rate sits at 22 per cent – the highest in England.

Speaking at the launch of the project, Energy Secretary Edward Davey, said the DECC funding would help “drive forward collective purchasing and switching initiatives at a local level, helping consumers get a better deal on their energy bills”.

He continued: “We need to find new ways to help people with their energy bills, working with communities and councils across the country. I am delighted so many organisations want to run new co-operative schemes to help people, especially the fuel poor, to get the best deals in the market.”

Residents will be able to sign up online, on the phone, or at a series of local events over the next two months, before a big community switch is held in March.

Read more about Cheaper Energy Together Community Partnership.

Manchester saves £3 million

In related news, residents across Greater Manchester are set to save more than £3 million in what is being billed as the 'UK's biggest energy switching scheme'.

More than 35,000 people signed up for the GM Fair Energy scheme in January – reportedly more than any other energy switching project of its kind in the country – with some set to make savings of nearly £900 a year. It is claimed that this scheme marks the first time one of the ‘big six’ energy companies (ScottishPower) has successfully bid take part in an energy-switching scheme.

Households who registered for the scheme, led by Greater Manchester councils, were placed into a ‘reverse auction’ and will be offered new energy deals during the course of the week.

Deals will also be made available for people on pre-payment meters for the first time, in the hopes of helping some of the area’s poorest people reduce their energy bills.

The total saving to be offered to people across Greater Manchester is expected to reach £3.1 million with an average saving of around £122 a year.

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council and Chairman of the Greater Manchester Low Carbon Hub, said: “This has been the most successful scheme of its kind, with Greater Manchester residents saving more than £3 million from their bills.

“The sheer number of people who registered demonstrates the appetite there currently is for projects of this kind, while the fact that one of the ‘big six’ energy companies successfully joined the auction shows that the industry is now taking schemes like this seriously.

“There is still much work to be done, with thousands of people in Manchester and beyond living in fuel poverty. Those who didn’t register for this scheme have not missed the boat as we will be arranging a similar energy switching project over the next few months and I’d urge anyone who wants to save money to register their interest.”

Read more about the GM Fair Energy scheme.