Council leader Gary Porter is confident South Holland residents will have a chance to opt for cut price gas and electricity within weeks.
South Holland will be hanging on to the coat tails of Peterborough City Council as it tests the market later this month – and power purchasing firm iChoosr will do the same next month as it hunts out discounts for South Holland and Leeds councils.
Peterborough City Council was already leading a 13-strong band of councils and has now agreed to allow South Holland to join its first wave mass switch-over.
iChoosr is already a big player on the continent and will provide a second option as its deal offer is likely to be known by the end of November.
Coun Porter has been trying to broker a deal on cut-price energy since the beginning of this year, but a promising scheme hit the rocks after the would-be providers delayed the predicted start-date for a second time.
Coun Porter revealed last week he had knocked the scheme on the head and was looking for something else to take its place.
He said: “I am used to dealing with people who promise loads and deliver little, but I really thought these guys had something about them.”
Earlier this year, he hoped South Holland would be the first council making a mass switch with Rotherham based Nationwide Power offering a 15 per cent cut on the cheapest tariffs in the district.
Around 2,000 people registered an interest in a switch and Coun Porter wants to make sure that they – and others who join – get the best possible prices on domestic gas and electricity.
South Holland District Council won’t make a penny out of any deal and Coun Porter says the whole idea is simply to give residents some help with their home fuel bills.
Once the deals are on the table – and the prices are known – he hopes all district councillors will work with their wards to help people cut their bills by formerly signing up.
He said: “This is one of those things where we as councillors can do something positive for people with absolutely no downside to it.”