Energy utility EDP lost most clients in 2021

  • Lusa
  • 11 August 2022

The period under review also saw the highest number of customers joining the Supplier of Last Resort (LRS) in the last five years.

Portugal’s main energy utility company, EDP remained the energy supplier that lost the most customers in 2021 in changes within the liberalised market, totalling 96,000, according to a report on the electricity and gas retail markets, released by ERSE on Thursday.

“The changes within the liberalised market, in the number of customers, means EDP remains the supplier with the most losses (96,000), with the main beneficiary being Goldenergy (50,000 customers), followed by Endesa (46,000),” said the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE), which released the report on the electricity and gas retail markets for 2021.

In terms of consumption, Iberdrola was the supplier with the greatest losses in switching in the free market, which totalled 846-gigawatt hours (GWh), while EDP recorded the greatest gain in switching within the free market (275 GWh). Regarding changes in suppliers. ERSE noted that last year, the domestic segment represented more than 97% of the changes in terms of the number of customers. However, in terms of consumption, industrial customers are the most relevant segment in the changes within the liberalised market, with 42% of the total.

The regulator highlighted that in 2021, there was an increase in supplier switching intensity rates, which were 17% in electricity and 15% in gas, in the number of customers, and 23% and 14%, in consumption.

The period under review also saw the highest number of customers joining the Supplier of Last Resort (LRS) in the last five years.

EDP remained the energy supplier that lost the most customers in 2021 in changes within the liberalised market, totalling 96,000, according to the report from the electricity and gas retail markets released today by ERSE.

“In changes within the liberalised market, in the number of customers, EDP remains the supplier with the most losses (96,000), with the main beneficiary being Goldenergy (50,000 customers), followed by Endesa (46,000),” said the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE), which released the report on the electricity and gas retail markets for 2021.

In terms of consumption, Iberdrola was the supplier with the greatest losses in switching in the free market, which totalled 846-gigawatt hours (GWh), while EDP recorded the greatest gain in switching within the free market (275 GWh). Regarding changes of suppliers, ERSE noted that last year, the domestic segment represented more than 97% of the changes, in terms of the number of customers. However, in terms of consumption, industrial customers are the most relevant segment in the changes within the liberalised market, with 42% of the total.

The regulator highlighted that in 2021, there was an increase in supplier switching intensity rates, which were 17% in electricity and 15% in gas, in the number of customers, and 23% and 14%, in consumption.

The period under review also saw the highest number of customers joining the Supplier of Last Resort (CUR) in the last five years, with 29,328 in electricity and 1,117 in gas, which is largely due to suppliers leaving the activity, since the system guarantees a supplementary supply to its customers, through the CUR.

Consumption in the liberalised electricity market thus represented, at the end of 2021, around 94% of total energy consumption, with the residential segment corresponding to 38% of that consumption.

As for the number of clients, ERSE pointed out, that the liberalised market grew 1.9%, to more than 5.4 million, maintaining a relative weight of 85%.

In gas, 98% of consumption in the conventional segment was in the liberalised market last year, corresponding to 1.3 million clients (85% of the total).