Clean energy supplier Bulb said it had registered its 100,000th customer earlier this week, claiming an exodus from the ‘Big Six’ had helped it reach that landmark.
Bulb offers consumers 100% renewably-sourced electricity and gas tariffs and has been active for just two years. It said it had passed the 100,000 customer mark quicker than two of its most prominent rivals – OVO and Ecotricity – which took three and 17 years respectively to reach the same milestone.
However market conditions have transpired to help Bulb reach that target in such a timeframe.
While the government has historically struggled to incentivise the British public to switch in large numbers, the recent spate of price rises appears to have captured more consumer imagination than before.
Centrica became the latest of the Big Six to announce a price increase – its first in more than three years – to come into effect from mid-September.
However Centrica was hit with a wave of criticism after it first blamed its price increase on spiralling network costs, then failed to substantiate those claims. Centrica was rebuked by the Energy Networks Association for its claims the next day.
Bulb said its prices for its green tariff remain around 20% cheaper than the Big Six, and that it had managed to attract large number of people to its tariffs due to dissatisfaction with what it labelled “tease and squeeze” tactics.
“We’re seeing people beginning to vote with their feet in huge numbers,” Hayden Wood, co-founder at Bulb, said.
“They’re finally taking a stand against the Big Six, who keep putting profits first and customers last.”