LONDON, England – Tens of thousands of businesses in England have switched water utility suppliers since the market opened up in April.
Called the biggest transformation since water utility privatisation, the market change meant that 1.2 million affected businesses could switch water suppliers as they can with their electricity or gas supplier.
Data released from Market Operator Services (MOSL) after three months showed that more than 36,000 water or wastewater services have switched.
However, 21,000 of the 36,000 (58%) supply points that have switched in the quarter use less than 1,000 litres of water a day. This compares with the larger businesses who use more than 13,700 litres a day.
The dawn of the open market was designed to increase competition among suppliers with new entrants entering the business.
Data from MOSL showed that new entrants gained over 15,000 supply points during the first three months – representing 40 percent of total switches.
Chris Scoggins, CEO of MOSL, said: “While it is early days, we are already seeing some positive developments, with customers of all sizes engaging in the market. That’s great news, but there’s still much to do.”
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