E.ON UK

E.ON UK plc

Type	Public limited company
Industry	Energy
Founded	1989 (as Powergen)
Headquarters	Coventry, England United Kingdom
Key people	Tony Cocker, CEO
Products	Power and gas
Revenue	£9.22bn (2011)
Operating income	£-162m (2011)
Net income	£406m (2011)
Total assets	£10.83bn (2011)
Total equity	£5.26bn (2011)
Number of employees	15,000 (2011)
Parent	E.ON
Website	www.eonenergy.com

E.ON UK (formerly Powergen) is an energy company in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of E.ON, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. As Powergen, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but since 1 July 2002 has been owned by E.ON SE of Germany.

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. Sixty per cent of Powergen was sold to private investors in 1991, followed by the remaining 40% in March 1995. It expanded considerably by acquiring the regional electricity company East Midlands Electricity in 1998 and the supply business of TXU Energi in 2002. Powergen was eventually taken over itself by E.ON, an acquisition which was completed in January 2002.

It then bought the distribution network operator Midlands Electricity in 2004. This was merged with the distribution business of East Midlands Electricity and rebranded as Central Networks. The Industrial & Commercial Retail business was rebranded as E.ON UK on 5 July 2004. 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.

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. 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.

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 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. 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 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.

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.

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.

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 CO₂ figures by email from e.on

Name	Output(MW) Elect	Out (MW) heat	Type	CO2 (tonnes per annum)	notes
Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station	2,000		coal	8,000,000 -10,000,000
Kingsnorth power station	1,940		coal	6,400,000	Closed
Ironbridge Power Station	1,000		coal	1,800,000	To close by 2015
Connah's Quay Power Station	1,420		gas	3,300,000
Killingholme B power station	900		gas	2,100,000	Closure announced
Enfield Power Station	408		gas	1,000,000
Cottam Development Centre	400		gas	912,000
Taylor's Lane	132		gas	3,600
Grain A Power Station	1,380		oil	429,000	Closed
Grain B Power Station	1,275	340	gas
Askam Cumbria	4.62		onshore wind
Bessy Bell County Tyrone	5		onshore wind
Blood Hill Norfolk	2.25		onshore wind
Bowbeat Scottish Borders	31.2		onshore wind
Deucheran Hill Kintyre	15.75		onshore wind
Great Eppleton Tyne and Wear	3		onshore wind
Holmside, Harehill and High Volts County Durham	18		onshore wind
Lowca Cumbria	4.62		onshore wind
Out Newton, East Riding of Yorkshire	9.1		onshore wind
Ovenden Moor West Yorkshire	9.2		onshore wind
Rheidol Ceredigion	2.4		onshore wind
Rhyd-y-Groes Anglesey	7.2		onshore wind
Royd Moor South Yorkshire	6.5		onshore wind
St. Breock Cornwall	4.95		onshore wind
Siddick and Oldside Cumbria	9.6		onshore wind
Bradford West Yorkshire	4.5	28	CHP	35,000
Castleford West Yorkshire	56	-	CHP	78,000
Citigen London	31	25	CHP	18,000
Corby			CHP	637,000
Humber Lincolnshire	25	90	CHP
Kemsley 1 Kent	80	200	CHP	392,000
Leeds West Yorkshire	4.5	16	CHP	20,000
Nottingham Nottinghamshire	4.9	16	CHP
Port of Liverpool Merseyside	30	55	CHP	91,000
Sandbach Cheshire	56	-	CHP	144,000
Stoke Staffordshire	56	40	CHP	167,000
Thornhill West Yorkshire	50	-	CHP	56,000
Winnington Cheshire	130	400	CHP	755,000
Workington Cumbria	4	82	CHP	209,000
Scroby Sands wind farm	60		offshore wind
Blyth	4		offshore wind
Steven's Croft	44		biomas	1,154

Sponsorship

ITV National Weather

Powergen 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. The sponsorship ended on 31 December 2007 and ITV National Weather is now sponsored by vitamin supplement company Seven Seas, later breakdown insurance company service Green Flag from 21 June 2015 onwards (in Scotland by home improvements company National Tyres and Autocare).

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.

See also

• Energy policy of the United Kingdom
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• Scroby Sands wind farm

External links

• Official website