Council’s energy scheme saves £1m
ACOMPANY set up by the council to help residents reduce their energy bills has helped save more than £1m.
More than 4,000 people have signed up to buy their gas and electricity through Fairerpower, a partnership between the Council and Ovo Energy, which was launched in March.
It was set up on the basis that the council would have a collective bargaining power to get the best fuel rates available and has resulted in an average saving of £245 per customer.
Tricia Canavan, from Macclesfield, was the 4,000th customer to sign up to the scheme and is expected to save £288 a year on her monthly dual fuel bills.
Tricia, who was presented with a hamper as a prize for being the 4,000th Fairerpower customer, said: “I’d been thinking about changing my energy supplier for a while but I wanted somebody I could trust.
“The change to Fairerpower will make a real difference to my bank balance, as it offers one of the most competitive tariffs in the area.
“Receiving the hamper in the lead-up to Christmas was a most welcome surprise and a real bonus.”
Councillor Rod Menlove, board member of Fairerpower and director of Cheshire East Energy, said: “Fairerpower is shaking up the energy market across Cheshire East. We are building trust through award-winning customer service while securing cheaper and fairer prices for local residents.
“This was our promise when we started and we are delivering and giving people a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to the ‘big six’ suppliers.
“This also helps the local economy with the £1m savings being fed back into the local community.
“New customers can benefit even further by helping introduce their friends and family - with both parties rewarded with a free £20 Amazon gift voucher.You can’t say fairer than that.”
Switching to Fairerpower is an option for all 170,000 households in the borough, as well as residents in neighbouring borough Chester West and Chester. Fairerpower is a non-profit making com- pany, which is owned by Cheshire East Council. It is the first local authority in the UK to sell power since the gas and electricity supply system was nationalised in 1948.
Anyone interested in saving money on their fuel bills can visit fairerpower.co.uk to find out more.