MORE than a million households in the North-East and Yorkshire are missing out on savings by sticking with their energy company.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change estimates that in the North-East, 600,000 households are missing out on their share of £120m by failing to shop around and take advantage of the best energy deals on the market. Most people could save around £200 and some even more.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, it is estimated 1.2m households are missing out on their share of £240m by sticking with their energy company.

The ‘Power to Switch’ campaign, launched today (Monday, February 16), encourages people to switch supplier and save money by visiting; www.BeAnEnergyShopper.com.

Launching the campaign, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: “When it comes to switching, the power is in people’s hands to get a better deal and save.

“We’ve reformed the market so that there are more suppliers, more competition, and a much faster and simpler process to switch. That means millions of people can switch supplier and save hundreds of pounds today.”

The Government’s programme of energy market reform includes halving switching times, so now it only takes 17 days to switch energy supplier and encouraging new suppliers on to the market. It has also legislated to back Ofgem reforms that force energy companies to make bills clearer and provide information for customers on how to switch.

For more information about how to switch energy supplier visit www.BeAnEnergyShopper.com or call the Energy Saving Advice Service on 0300 123 1234.