Community Energy Switch

Our kindred society, Coldstream Community Trust, is running a very valuable community energy switch from 4th August to save households money on energy bills and raise money for the activities of the Trust. Households can be anywhere in the UK, they need not be in the Coldstream area. Here is the detail:-

FOR HOUSEHOLDS – MORE DETAILS
• From 4th August, the community website www.Coldstream.Co, under 'Energy Switch', will have a computer link to register your interest in switching. This input is relatively easy but you need to have to hand your typical annual gas and electricity usage. Registering interest takes about 10 minutes.
• For those households not familiar with computers, the community centre can help with offline input after 4th August.
• To register for an energy switch, your house need not be in Coldstream; it can be, for example, in Cornhill, Duns, Leitholm, Bournemouth or Bristol, as long as it is in the UK.
• The switch is a national initiative run by northern Local Authorities and Trusts like ours and pressure is put on energy suppliers three times a year.
• All our registrations for switches are gathered in by the end of August, are merged with other registrations in the UK and then taken to an auction of energy suppliers, putting pressure. The cheapest supplier wins.
• By about mid-October households get an offer which they can accept or refuse. The process is very easy. The switch does not impact on any boiler service contracts and even if you have to pay an exit fee from your current supplier, you can still save money.
• Two Coldstream households had a 'practice' switch in March on the Sedgefield Development Trust (Durham) switch and were happy with the ease of the process and the annual savings they made.
• Not all households gain savings, but you have a 75% chance of doing so. Across the national switch, the average savings are £200 per household pa. In the Sedgefield and South Lakeland switches, for example, the former has 500 households in the scheme and the latter, 1,500.
• It's not just households that are saving money; if you register for a dual-switch (electricity & gas), our Community Trust gets £11 per household. If it's only electricity or gas then the Trust gets £5.50.  
• In our first switch in August this year, if we can get a minimum 200 households – but hoping for more – to receive positive quotes, then the potential savings for households could be £40,000pa and the Trust would receive around £1,400 for promoting the switch. Win-win!
• REMEMBER, your household need not be located in the Burgh of Coldstream. The Sedgefield switch has London households in it.  
• The Community Trust is busy promoting the scheme during the month of July, ready for 4th August registrations.
• If you wish to show interest in the coming month, please 'phone Gerald Tait on 01890-882685, 07725718589 or on tenwickettait@gmail.com. In August the switch facility will become available to you.
• THE SWITCH HAS BEEN A TOTAL SUCCESS IN SEDGEFIELD AND SOUTH LAKELAND, SO THERE IS NO REASON THAT COLDSTREAM CANNOT DO THE SAME.

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