Peterborough City Council will be extending the registration period for people to join its Ready to switch? scheme.

Over 13,000 people have signed up to the scheme so far, which is being run in partnership with 11 other councils – making it the biggest local authority led collective switching scheme in the UK.

The deadline to register will now be extended until 28 January 2013 in order to get the best deal for residents and maximise potential savings on their energy bills.

A major factor behind the extension was that a number of the major energy companies were unwilling to take part in the auction before Christmas.

Reasons given by the companies for this include recent energy price increases across the market, pressure from the government and Ofgem to review what tariffs they offered, and that the number of registrations has not yet hit 20,000 households, prompting the decision that the council should delay the auction by just over a month.

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In recent days the number of registrations has increased dramatically and people are signing up at the rate of about 800 a day. The city council, along with all the other participating councils on the scheme, will continue with the job of getting more households signed up to the scheme to maximise the bulk savings possible. The council is also hopeful of receiving funds from the government to help publicise the scheme to a greater number of residents.

All those who have signed up to the scheme will be contacted to tell them about the change of plan and the extension of the registration period. There is no obligation to accept any offer at the conclusion of the Ready to switch? scheme, but given this extension there will be a chance to opt out at this stage if people can't wait until the end of January to switch supplier.

The increased time for registration will also help people who have said that they are too busy to sign up over Christmas.

John Harrison, Executive Director of Strategic Resources at Peterborough City Council, said: "We would have loved to bring those that have signed up some good news before Christmas, but it looks like we need to wait until the end of next month to get the most competitive deal for residents.

"The government asked local authorities to start collective switching schemes and in just over a month we have created the biggest local authority led initiative in the UK. As a pilot scheme you sometimes have to be flexible, but as the scheme continues to grow I’m sure we’ll get an even better deal for those registered at the moment and those who sign up between now and 28 January."

(CD)