Business

New supplier to enter north's domestic electricity market

Pictured launching Open Electric are general manager Nicola Deaney with founder and managing director Marc Norris.=
Pictured launching Open Electric are general manager Nicola Deaney with founder and managing director Marc Norris.= Pictured launching Open Electric are general manager Nicola Deaney with founder and managing director Marc Norris.=

COMPETITION for electricity customers in Northern Ireland is set to intensify with a new entrant to the market.

Open Electric will launch in August and promises a "unique offer".

The Belfast-based company is unable yet to reveal how much it will charge but insisted the tariff would be competitive.

It describes itself as "socially aware" and said loyal customers could share in any profit made.

Open Electric also promised to donate "up to 10 per cent" of profits to a charity of its customers' choosing.

The firm was set up by Marc Norris, formerly a technical analyst with the System Operator for Northern Ireland (Soni).

Mr Norris said there would be a one-rate charge per unit with free billing - even by post.

He said the company - which is targeting the domestic market - would not tie consumers into contracts.

"For far too long, energy customers in Northern Ireland have found themselves at the mercy of suppliers which have put their own interests first, bamboozling them with complex and often confusing pricing, while also making them pay more for choosing to receive a bill by post," he said.

"At Open Electric, we want our customers to share in our success and we promise to reward them for their loyalty with a credit payback scheme. We also promise to financially support charity and community initiatives for the benefit of all and we invite our new customers to choose who should benefit most.

"Above all, we know that reliability, simplicity, and the delivery of quality customer care and value for money will be the pillars of our combined success and we invite prospective new customers to contact us now to hear more and register their interest.”

The north currently has just four suppliers of electricity for households.

Power NI dominates the market followed by SSE Airtricity, Budget Energy and Electric Ireland.

The market contrasts to Britain which has 81 suppliers.