The Association for Decentralised Energy
Switch2 understands that effective engagement with residents at all stages is essential to the success of any community heating scheme.
Switch2 manages more than 500 schemes, serving more than 180 clients and 70,000 residents. As every community scheme is different, Switch2’s products and services are flexible to fit the requests of each scheme while providing useful features from which the customer will benefit. The organisation is committed to delivering on residents' expectations for constant heating/hot water and accurate billing or easy access to top-up PAYG but offers additional benefits to exceed expectations.
Switch2 employs Resident Liaison Officers to act as a contact for all enquiries. The Officers act as a bridge between the installation teams the residents and the client, providing project updates and facilitating resident feedback prior to installation. Daily support, home visits, demonstrations and multi-lingual services are available. Residents also benefit from social media updates and community energy clubs.
Once a heating system is running, one-to-one support is available to residents to ensure they understand how to use their heating system and the controls. Welcome packs, detailing helpful advice about the heating system and tariffs are provided. Residents can also contact Switch2 through a 0333 24/7 local number or by email, website or social media. Six monthly client and resident satisfaction reviews are carried out by an independent organisation.
Switch2 offers a flexible range of ways to top-up or pay energy bills, including:
District heating in the UK is still in its infancy and has many barriers to overcome. Switch2 addresses these challenges not only by how they effectively communicate with residents but with clients too. Switch2 holds regular seminars to inform clients on best practice and changes to regulations that could impact heat network schemes. Importantly this includes advice on communicating effectively with residents about system upgrades and new builds.
Switch2 acts as the voice and advocator for the resident, ensuring that equipment is sized correctly, suitable dwelling equipment is specified and meters in place to ensure fair pricing. They give constant care to residents by making sure that queries are answered in set SLAs – inside or outside working hours. As standard, they benchmark all products and services against others available in the utility market.
