MORE than 1,500 families in Kirklees have signed up to a cut-price energy deal.
They have joined the scheme being run by Kirklees Council and other authorities to reduce bills.
And early estimates show that there will be a combined saving of £163, 513 in Kirklees – an average of £103 per household.
Across Yorkshire, the scheme will see families make savings of more than £800,000.
In Kirklees, those who used to pay by cash can save a total of £22,413 by making the switch to the new account offer.
Those paying by direct debit will save a total of £122,817 and those on pre-payment deals can save £18,284.
Energy bills across Yorkshire will be reduced by almost £1 million following the region’s largest collective fuel switch which included Kirklees.
Householders in Kirklees, Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield and York banded together with their local authority and Community Energy Direct to source the best price deal from gas and electricity suppliers.
Savings have totalled £805,000 across the five areas.
Working with the consumer organisation Which?, the councils and Community Energy Direct saw almost 7,000 households sign-up to the collective switch, which closed on May 1.
Average household annual energy savings are £137.
But better price deals could not be sourced for more than 1,000 families who instead received peace of mind that they are already on the best deal available for them.
Clr Mehboob Khan , leader of Kirklees Council, said: “This initiative shows that savings can be made by working together to negotiate with energy companies to get the best deals for customers in Kirklees.
“This has the potential to really help those in fuel poverty. The scheme has so far saved nearly £1m for people in the region.”
Hugh Goulbourne, a director of not-for-profit group Community Energy Direct, said: “The savings across the five areas clearly demonstrate that when householders band together in a collective way they can help each other to save money.
“Some homes will be making an annual saving of more than £500 on their energy costs simply by switching from a cash account to a quarterly direct debit account.
“We are very pleased to be making these significant savings which will ease the pressures on so many households, especially those people living on fixed incomes who were finding it such a struggle to make ends meet,” said Mr Goulbourne.
The Community Energy Direct – Energy Smart programme was launched in February and ran its collective switch scheme for three months.
It was supported by the Cheaper Energy Together fund operated by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
Plans are already being drawn up for future collective energy switching and energy saving initiatives across the region.
