Since the beginnings of the liberalisation of the energy market, VREG has offered a web-based service to compare prices, quantities and contract terms offered by the green energy companies operating in Flanders. Last week the so-called V-test (for vergelijking, or comparison) was extended to include quality of service.

The 11 companies that provide energy to private homes can be compared on the basis of five criteria: general information provided; efficiency in dealing with queries; cost associated with ending a contract; payment options offered; and additional costs over and above the actual energy price.

Each of the companies was also given a score by the regulator based on the number of complaints received, on a scale of one to five stars. Essent, the biggest provider in the Netherlands, received the worst score, of 9.35 complaints for every 5,000 private customers, earning the company one star. Ecopower scored only 0.21 complaints per 5,000 customers, to take five stars. Electrabel, by far the biggest of the companies, also gained five stars.

“Apart from energy prices, trustworthiness and good service are the main reasons families switch energy providers,” commented Flemish energy minister Freya Van den Bossche. “By providing good consumer information, I want to help them to make an informed choice.”

Group purchase earns 30% discount

Energy provider Essent sent a shock wave through the market in Flanders last week, when it concluded a deal with 20,000 families in Antwerp to provide electricity and gas at a discount of 30%. The families had come together in a purchasing cooperative, an increasingly popular tool already used in the fuel-oil market. The group asked companies to tender for the contract, and Essent’s price came in 30% lower than competing bids from Electrabel, Luminus and Nuon, the three biggest providers in Flanders. More surprisingly, the price is half of the so-called social tariff applied to people on benefits. The problem with that is that the government’s rules state that the social tariff must be lower than the price offered by the market. The current social tariff of about €1,900 a year “needs to be looked at again,” said federal consumer affairs minister Johan Vande Lanotte.

Compare energy prices and services at:
➟➟ www.vreg.be/vergelijk-dienstverlening

Look into group energy buying at:
➟➟ www.samengaanwegroener.be