85,000 switch to Bord Gáis

WHEN launching the Big Switch campaign, Bord Gáis had hoped to lure 85,000 customers to its new electricity service in a year — but ended up doing it in just a month.

“The response has been phenomenal. We had hoped to get 80,000 to 100,000 people switched by the end of year one. Clearly we’ve broken that target already,” a spokeswoman said.

Chief executive of the Consumers’ Association, Dermot Jewell, said the mass exodus from the ESB to Bord Gáis showed “a massive anger at ESB prices”.

“It shows the huge need for competition in Irish markets and that a reasonably reduced rate will always entice people.

“This is a big backlash to the ESB. But I think Bord Gáis did it very well. It’s not easy to make people switch from any kind of provider but they made it very easy for people,” he said.

Mr Jewell called for greater competition in the landline, mobile telephone and digital television markets, saying that Irish people were paying exorbitant prices compared to other countries.

“People should learn from Bord Gáis and try and bring competition to these sectors,” he said.