By Jeremy Hodges, Bloomberg
EON SE is now supplying all of its 3.3 million residential customers in Britain with 100% renewable electricity, the first of the U.K.’s “Big Six” utilities to do so.
Clean power is available on all its tariffs at no extra cost with most of the renewable energy coming from its own wind, biomass and solar sources, the utility said in a statement. EON operates and owns more than 20 onshore and offshore wind farms across the U.K.
EON switched household consumers to clean energy in a bid to stem a customer exodus to smaller rivals such as Ovo Energy Ltd. and Bulb Energy Ltd. that have offered 100% renewable tariffs at cheaper rates for some time.
The move may also help EON differentiate itself in an increasingly competitive market. In March, Royal Dutch Shell Plc made an aggressive move into the British retail business by offering clean energy tariffs through Shell Energy in its bid to become the world’s biggest power company.
“Climate change is the defining issue of our era, and one that energy customers are increasingly concerned about,” said Michael Lewis, EON U.K.’s chief executive officer. It’s a “change at a scale never seen before in Britain.”
