CEER Report on commercial barriers to supplier switching in EU retail energy markets

CEER encourages Europe’s energy customers to compare offers in order to benefit from competition in the market. However, in practice, some energy customers do not do so. In this report, CEER aims to address the question of “what keeps customers from switching” by focusing on perceived or actual commercial barriers to switching.In particular, this CEER report identifies two potential barriers to switching: 1. Customer perception whereby the customer perceives insufficient monetary gain, a complex switching process, or has a lack of trust in alternative suppliers; and 2. Commercial contract conditions such as unjustified termination fees and value-added services that lead to customer “lock-in” where the customer bears a cost in switching.