More than 5,000 households are now signed up to ‘Power to the People’ in a bid to slash their energy bills by up to £200.
Residents are still registering at a rate of around 250 a day for this Oldham Council-led campaign which aims to get residents a fairer deal as rising energy prices continue to make national headlines.
The Energy Switching initiative encourages people to join together in a collective-bulk-buying group that can deliver significant savings. ‘Power to the People’ has now passed the 5,000 sign-up milestone. People interested in joining the scheme must register before the deadline of Sunday, November 25.
Councillor Arooj Shah, Assistant Cabinet Member at Oldham Council, said: “With more than 5,000 residents on board we believe this is now the biggest Local Authority-led Energy Switching scheme anywhere in the country. Rising energy prices are rarely out of the media spotlight at present, often for negative reasons, and this is a great scheme that can help you to take action and ensure you get a better deal. Why wait until the New Year to start thinking about how you can make savings? The beauty of this scheme is its simplicity. If we all group together to buy our energy in bulk then we’ll all get a much better deal than if we did it individually.
“We’re also now urging businesses to spread the word and check that their staff are aware of the scheme. We are asking them to direct people either to the website at www.oldham.gov.uk/fairenergy or to attend one of our sign-up events taking place across the Borough. If anyone wants more information, then please call our Communications team on 0161 770 4707 or email marketing@oldham.gov.uk The sign-up process is free and quick – all you need is a recent energy bill or annual energy statement to hand. Remember, there is absolutely no obligation to switch providers if you later decide you don’t want to, so you really have nothing to lose by registering now before the November 25 deadline.”
The ‘Power to the People’ scheme, backed by Energy Minister Ed Davey, is run in association with Rochdale Council and this group will go to auction on November 26.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority members, with around 1.2 million households between them, has also agreed to establish a dedicated energy collective on an initial one-year basis. This will build on the ‘Power to the People’ scheme and that group will go to auction in January 2013.
Sign-up events are continuing across the Borough where people, especially those without internet access, can come along, learn more and sign-up
Saddleworth: Saturday, November 17th, Uppermill Library, 10am to 12.30pm
