E.ON UK

E.ON UK plc
Public limited company
Industry Energy
Founded 1989 (as Powergen)
Headquarters Coventry, England
Key people
 Mike Lewis, CEO
Products Power and gas
Revenue £9.22bn (2011)[1]
£-162m (2011)[1]
£406m (2011)[1]
Total assets £10.83bn (2011)[1]
Total equity £5.26bn (2011)[1]
Number of employees
 15,000 (2011)[1]
Parent E.ON
Website www.eonenergy.com

E.ON UK is an English energy company and a subsidiary of the German company E.ON, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. It was founded in 1989 as Powergen, and was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has been a subsidiary of E.ON since 1 July 2002.[2]

It was formerly a vertically integrated utility company with interests in electrical generation, electricity distribution in the Midlands region, and in the electricity and gas supply markets. However, since restructuring and sales, E.ON UK is now a retail business with support functions.

History

Powergen was formed in 1989 as a Public Limited Company which was wholly owned by the UK government and acquired about 50% of the Central Electricity Generating Board generating capacity. Sir Robert Malpas was Chairman of the Group from 1989 to 1991.[3] Sixty per cent of Powergen was sold to private investors in 1991, followed by the remaining 40% in March 1995.[4] It expanded considerably by acquiring the regional electricity company East Midlands Electricity in 1998[5] and the supply business of TXU Energi in 2002.[6] Powergen was eventually taken over itself by E.ON, an acquisition which was completed in January 2002.[7]

It then bought the distribution network operator Midlands Electricity in 2004.[8] This was merged with the distribution business of East Midlands Electricity and rebranded as Central Networks.[9] The Industrial & Commercial Retail business was rebranded as E.ON UK on 5 July 2004.[10] The creation of the Central Networks business in April 2004 included "a company of E.ON" as part of its logotype. In October 2005 it was also added to the Powergen logotype.

In June 2007, a major advertising campaign entitled "The wind of change", containing advertisements using the E.ON logo, was launched. The campaign featured the Robin Rigg offshore wind farm in the Solway Firth, currently in development. In the consumer market, this was complemented by a replacement of the mostly blue Powergen identity to the red identity of E.ON, and the launch of a new product, Go Green, using electricity from renewable sources and carbon offset gas.

On 22 October 2007, the company announced that the E.ON Energy and Powergen brands would change to E.ON as of 1 November and 3 December 2007 respectively.[11]

In January 2008, E.ON acquired West Midlands-based CHN Group, a provider of heating services to builders, local authorities and housing associations across the region.[12] and in August 2008 completed the purchase of the Street Lighting business lighting projects of ABB Ltd. It intended to improve its existing lighting business by purchasing the ABB business.ABB.[13]

In 2008 and 2009 a number of protests took place at E.ON UK's power station including a Climate Camp at their Kingsnorth power station in August 2008[14] and at their Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station in October 2009.

Restructuring

On 20 January 2010, E.ON UK announced the closure of its Rayleigh Customer Service Centre and the loss of 600 jobs.[15] The company was forced to bring forward the announcement by one day after the information was leaked to a local newspaper. This has been criticised as a money-saving exercise by an organisation which has seen an increase in profits of 18% in 2009[16] and news that E.ON UK have made £80 million in profits so far in the financial year 2009/10. Other businesses within E.ON were also affected by these round of job losses, including its IT support and its Highways Lighting operations.

In March 2011, E.ON sold Central Networks to PPL's UK subsidiary Western Power Distribution for £3.5 billion.[17]

In October 2012, E.ON sold its 50% stake in Horizon Nuclear Power to Hitachi for £348 million. The other 50% stake, held by RWE npower, was also sold to Hitachi for the same amount, giving a total sale value of £696 million.[18]

Late in 2012, E.ON UK announced the closure of the 'Ignite' business, originally tasked with bringing alternative localised-generation products to market for E.ON UK.

In 2013, E.ON Home Energy Services was sold in a management buyout.[19]

Operations

The company's headquarters are in Coventry at Westwood Business Park, in a building designed by Bennetts Associates. There are numerous other offices and power generation sites across the country.

UK businesses

E.ON UK's businesses consist of:

  • Energy Solutions (a merger of the former Retail and Energy Services businesses)
  • Business Services (an internal service provider)
  • Central functions including Corporate Affairs & Finance under the banner UK Centre

Other UK businesses

E.ON's other operations in the UK include:

  • E.ON Climate and Renewables - renewables and climate protection projects
  • E.ON New Build & Technology Limited - engineering and technology
  • E.ON Ruhrgas UK North Sea - oil and gas exploration and production, within the UK sector of the North Sea
  • E.ON IT UK - the company's IT service provider

Generation

E.ON operate a number of different power generators[20] CO2 figures by email from e.on[21]

Name Output(MW) Elect Out (MW) heat Type CO2 (tonnes per annum) notes
Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station2,000coal8,000,000 -10,000,000
Kingsnorth power station1,940coal6,400,000Closed
Ironbridge Power Station1,000coal1,800,000Closed 2015
Connah's Quay Power Station1,420gas3,300,000
Killingholme B power station900gas2,100,000Closure announced
Enfield Power Station408gas1,000,000
Cottam Development Centre400gas912,000
Taylor's Lane132gas3,600
Grain A Power Station1,380oil429,000Closed
Grain B Power Station1,275340gas
Askam Cumbria4.62onshore wind
Bessy Bell County Tyrone5onshore wind
Blood Hill Norfolk2.25onshore wind
Bowbeat Scottish Borders31.2onshore wind
Deucheran Hill Kintyre15.75onshore wind
Great Eppleton Tyne and Wear3onshore wind
Holmside, Harehill and High Volts County Durham18onshore wind
Lowca Cumbria4.62onshore wind
Out Newton, East Riding of Yorkshire9.1onshore wind
Ovenden Moor, West Yorkshire22.5onshore wind
Rheidol Ceredigion2.4onshore wind
Rhyd-y-Groes Anglesey7.2onshore wind
Royd Moor South Yorkshire6.5onshore wind
St. Breock Cornwall4.95onshore wind
Siddick and Oldside Cumbria9.6onshore wind
Bradford West Yorkshire4.528CHP35,000
Castleford West Yorkshire56-CHP78,000
Citigen London3125CHP18,000
CorbyCHP637,000
Humber Lincolnshire2590CHP
Kemsley 1 Kent80200CHP392,000
Leeds West Yorkshire4.516CHP20,000
Nottingham Nottinghamshire4.916CHP
Port of Liverpool Merseyside3055CHP91,000
Sandbach Cheshire56-CHP144,000
Stoke Staffordshire5640CHP167,000
Thornhill West Yorkshire50-CHP56,000
Winnington Cheshire130400CHP755,000
Workington Cumbria482CHP209,000
Scroby Sands wind farm60offshore wind
Blyth4offshore wind
Steven's Croft44biomass1,154

Sponsorship

ITV National Weather

Powergen/E.ON sponsored the ITV National Weather forecasts from its launch on 13 February 1989 until 31 December 2007, a period of 18 years. They were known for their memorable sponsorship sequences from a set introduced on 5 April 1993 which featured weather themes circulating around (or parts of) the Powergen logo, and from 10 November 1996, the Weathergens, a "mascot" of Powergen representing different types of weather. After several different sets of idents throughout the 2000s, Powergen eventually became E.ON in 2007 and the sponsorship was changed to accommodate the name change. The sponsorship ended on 31 December 2007 and from 4 July 2016 to 8 July 2018, ITV National Weather is formerly sponsored by rival energy company SSE on all ITV plc stations and UTV.

Sport

In 2006, E.ON UK announced that it was to be the sponsor of the FA Cup for a four-year period. During this period, the competition is formally called "The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON". Before 2006, the company had sponsored the rugby union and rugby league cup competitions under the Powergen brand. The original four-year deal was extended to a fifth year as The FA failed to secure a new sponsor. The announcement was unpopular as it was made in the same week as the confirmation of closure of the Rayleigh Call Centre.

The company was the energy partner of the Football League, and sponsors the E.ON Lounge at the Ricoh Arena, the home of Coventry City F.C. Football Club.

In other sports, E.ON UK sponsored the Tour of Britain cycling championship from 2007 to 2009, and in 2007 launched a campaign with Ellen MacArthur to encourage energy efficiency within businesses.

Distribution network operators

E.ON UK is an energy supplier for homes across the country. They do not however manage the network of towers and cables that distributes electricity - these are maintained by distribution network operators (DNOs) which vary from region to region. If, for instance, there is a power outage it is necessary to contact the appropriate DNO rather than the energy supplier. See entry on distribution network operator for a full list.[22]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  2. ↑ E.ON completes Its acquisition of Powergen Archived 25 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ 'MALPAS, Sir Robert', in Who's Who 2012 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012)
  4. ↑ "More power to the people".
  5. ↑ Powergen buys East Midlands
  6. ↑ Powergen buys TXU's British arm
  7. ↑ "E.ON to buy Powergen".
  8. ↑ Powergen to buy Midlands Electricity
  9. ↑ "Powergen axe". The Daily Telegraph. London. 20 February 2004. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  10. ↑ "UK mass market energy retail review 2004" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2010.
  11. ↑ "E.ON UK Press Releases, Powergen is changing to E.ON…". E.ON. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  12. ↑ E.ON buys CHN
  13. ↑ Wragge & Co advises E.ON on street lighting deal Archived 3 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ Plans for Kingsnorth push ahead
  15. ↑ "600 jobs to go at Eon call centre in Rayleigh". Echo. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  16. ↑ "E.On profits up despite weak UK". BBC News. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  17. ↑ "SPPL to acquire E.ON's UK grid networks for GBP3.5bn". Power-Gen Worldwide. PennWell Corporation. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  18. ↑ "E.ON sells stake in Horizon Nuclear Power". E.ON. E.ON. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  19. ↑ Toulson, Jemma (29 September 2015). "An energy firm with real people power". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  20. ↑ "Our portfolio". E.ON UK. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  21. ↑ Talk:E.ON UK/Archives/2013#CO2 emissions figures
  22. ↑ "The GB electricity distribution network". Retrieved 4 August 2014.
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