Proactive Investors - British Gas has begun offering customers half-price on energy bills during the course of the Olympic games in Paris after supplier switching has ramped up in recent months.
Smart meter customers will have access to the Centrica PLC (LON:CNA)-owned firm’s PeakSave scheme for eight hours each Sunday during the games, British Gas said on Friday.
Some 10 pubs will also be offered free power on August 2 as the firm looks to roll out half-price energy offerings to businesses too.
The move comes after a rise in the number of customers switching between energy suppliers this year to take advantage of better offers, after higher prices previously left a lack of competition in the market.
In May, data firm Electralink reported energy supplier switching had reached its highest level in April since October 2021, with 287,000 customers changing deals over the month.
Such a rise in switching coincided with Octopus Energy surpassing British Gas to become the UK’s largest electricity supplier by customer numbers in late April.
Centrica subsequently reported a 1% fall in customer numbers to 10.2 million in interim results last month.
“There have been positive signs in the retail market over recent months - we are seeing fixed tariff offers returning to the market as well as an increase in switching,” Energy UK deputy chief Dhara Vyas commented earlier this week.
British Gas’ half-price energy offerings are set to last until September 7, having initially been used in December 2022 to encourage customers to shift usage to times of low demand under National Grid’s flexibility scheme.
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