Cheshire West and Chester Council is reminding residents that they have until Monday to register to join together and buy gas and electricity collectively in the latest bid to save money on energy bills this winter.

As winter approaches the council has joined forces with 11 councils across the UK to create a Collective Energy Scheme, where residents are able to combine their purchasing power and bulk-buy their energy as a group, enabling them to negotiate with providers for cheaper energy bills.

Known as collective switching, the scheme takes the hassle out of comparing and switching suppliers and participants are seeing savings of up to £200 a year.

Executive member for growth and innovation, Cllr Lynda Jones, said: “As winter draws closer rising fuel bills and more and more people risking their health by living in cold, damp homes due to fuel poverty are major concerns of this authority.

“This scheme is set to be the biggest of its kind in the UK – with 11 councils involved in the project its means over 1.5 million households are eligible to join the scheme and start saving money on their energy bills by combining their purchasing power.

“The more people that sign up, the bigger the potential savings so I would encourage all west Cheshire residents, regardless of the size of your property, to sign up today and help secure lower monthly bills.”

Registering for the free scheme is easy. All you need to do is visit www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/readytoswitch and provide your contact details, the name of your supplier and details of your current energy usage and tariff before midnight on Monday, October 13.

Up to five households can be registered on one e-mail address and so residents are being encouraged to register friends and family without access to the internet.

The collective switching scheme will work by means of a reverse auction where energy suppliers will be invited to bid the lowest price to supply energy to all those signed up for the scheme.

Offers following the auction, which is taking place on Tuesday, October 14, will then be sent out to participating residents who can then decide whether they want to switch to the new deal. There is no obligation to accept the offer.

Businesses can get involved too and should call 0800 048 4826 to see if they can save on their energy bill.