THE rate of switching activity in the north's electricity market rose dramatically last year as a new suppliers entered the domestic market.
In the domestic market, 11.2 per cent of customers changed supplier during 2015 compared to just 5.7 per cent the previous year, according to the Utility Regulator.
That meant just over 87,800 householders moved companies last year.
Switching activity was helped with the launch of two new suppliers in the last quarter, Click Energy and Open Electric.
Meanwhile, Electric Ireland announced a major expansion plan targeted at growing customer numbers north of the border.
And switching took a major upturn towards the end of the year, peaking at more than 9,000 in December alone.
Of the new entrants to the domestic market, Click Energy, run by former Budget Energy director Damian Wilson, fared best winning 3,175 new customers.
Open Electric meanwhile had signed up just 96 new account holders by the end of the year.
With almost 520,000 customers Power NI remains the dominant domestic electricity supplier followed by SSE Airtricity (198,700).
Budget Energy has 60,750 while Electric Ireland's customers number 3,584.
Aodhan O'Donnell, managing director of energy comparison website Power to Switch, said the surge in the number of people switching was perhaps a sign of more "effective competition" in the domestic market.
"When you compare to the RoI or GB markets, they're at around 12 to 14 per cent switching rate so we're getting up around that.
"I think people are switching on to the fact that they can switch and save money very easily.
"On average, those that use our site to switch save £140.
"Basically, if you never switch tariff or supplier, you are probably paying more than you need to."
Switching in the non-domestic sector is considerably more mature with the rate increasing to 12.8 per cent last year compared to 10.4 per cent in 2014.
The biggest mover was Go Power - part of the LCC Group - which saw its market share in the medium-sized business sector jump to 23 per cent from 10 per cent.
That puts it just behind Power NI as the second-biggest supplier in that sector.
It is however the most popular supplier for the larger energy users with more than 30 per cent of the market compared to closest competitor Electric Ireland (22 per cent).
Among smallest business customers, Power NI remains the biggest player with 53 per cent of the market followed by SSE Airtricity (21 per cent) and Go Power (12 per cent)
Go Power has made significant inroads into the electricity market over recent years winning several major contracts, many of them to supply the public sector.
The report also looks at the cost of electricity to consumers and found that households pay around the EU average for energy.
However, in each category of business, the cost per unit of electricity is considerably higher than the average charged across the EU.
For very large users, the cost per unit is 8.2 per cent - compared to an EU average of 5.4 per cent - but is cheaper than the UK as a whole and Italy.
The figures do not include the handful of business in the north that consume more than 50MW per year meaning they can negotiate their own contracts with electricity suppliers.
