E.ON Next celebrates its 4 year anniversary.

Celebrating 4 years of E.ON Next.

Time really flies. Four years ago, E.ON, our parent company, acquired npower and launched a new brand, E.ON Next. The goal was to build a new energy supplier from the ground up. One that would take a positive approach to helping customers tackle the climate crisis, giving customers stellar service and access to tariffs with electricity backed by 100% renewable sources. We’re delighted to be celebrating our fourth anniversary. E.ON Next has made great progress so far, and we know there’s many more opportunities for us to help our customers get even more from their energy. That’s why all our Nexties are so excited for the challenge ahead! 

Why we started E.ON Next.

At the time of our launch in 2020, Michael Lewis, former CEO of E.ON UK, said: “We are proud to be moving energy forward with the creation of E.ON Next for our customers. For too long now the climate conversation has been about the things we need to stop doing, the overwhelming scale of the crisis. It can feel like any action taken on an individual level is just not enough. But we are hoping to change that by taking action on behalf of our customers – shifting our energy mix and offering new sustainable products – and helping them to play their part in meeting the UK’s net zero targets.”

Today, the same mission still guides us in our work to promote the transition to renewable energy and support our customers to use energy in smarter ways. 

The story so far.

From 2020 to 2021, we migrated 2 million npower customers to E.ON Next. By the end of 2022 we’d switched all E.ON customers over to our new Kraken platform for a better experience and fresh tariff choices. As of October 2023, E.ON Next has 16.9% UK market share of domestic electricity supply and 14.2% UK market share of domestic gas supply¹.

Over a turbulent few years for energy users, we’ve run many successful campaigns covering everything from smart meter installations to innovative tariff launches, energy saving events and charity partnerships. 

We’ve been there for vulnerable customers during the pandemic and energy crisis. At the Uswitch Energy Awards in 2023, we received a Special Commendation for ‘Consistency through the crisis’². In October 2023 we launched a new Winter Affordability Support Scheme to help low income households and customers with medical issues and severe debt save on their energy bills. Our Energy Specialists are always on the lookout for ways to support those customers who may need extra help.

The power of teamwork.

In our first four years we’re proud to have teamed up with three fantastic partners - Mind, Kidney Care UK and Teach the Future. Here’s a taste of what we’ve achieved. 

Mind.

At the start of 2022, and together with our parent company, E.ON, we partnered with mental health charity Mind. We’re helping to raise funds for Mind’s vital services including the Infoline, 'Side by Side' online peer support community, and mental health advocacy.

Along with internal initiatives and commitments to employee mental health, we’ve worked with Mind to bring benefits to our customers too. Our Vulnerability and Affordability team also recognise the impact of financial difficulties on mental wellbeing and can point customers towards Mind’s support if they are struggling. 

Kidney Care UK.

We teamed up with Kidney Care UK in November 2023 Kidney Care UK is the UK's leading kidney patient support charity, dedicated to improving the quality of life of people affected by kidney disease. Established almost 50 years ago, they offer advice, support and financial assistance to thousands of patients and their families every year. Kidney Care UK is also the leading provider of grants to kidney care patients struggling financially when their illness prevents them from working. Last year the charity supported over 15,000 people, with grants totalling over £1 million.  

Working hand-in-hand, E.ON Next and Kidney Care UK have been signposting the extra support available to people living with Chronic Kidney Disease – including those who receive life-saving dialysis at home. We’ve run targeted drop-in sessions for patients at Warm Hubs to highlight both the help they can access to pay their energy bills, and other types of support provided by Kidney Care UK. Warm Hubs are local council or community led spaces where local residents with hard to heat homes, or energy bill worries can enjoy a warm, safe, comfortable space. We’ve also worked directly with Kidney Care UK to increase uptake of our Priority Services Register which gives patients access to extra support from our specially trained Vulnerability Teams. If you need to speak to a Vulnerability Specialist, contact our Energy Specialists team. 

Teach the Future.

In October 2023 we announced our partnership with Teach the Future. Teach the Future’s goal is to revamp climate education in the UK and equip young people with climate action skills at all levels. They’re campaigning for more green vocational courses in colleges to train the practical skill sets needed to transform industries on the road to net-zero. With their ‘Teach the Teacher’ project they’re helping teachers in 200 secondary schools a year to improve climate education in their own classrooms. They’re also lobbying the government to pass the Climate Emergency Education Bill, written by young people for young people. 

At E.ON Next we share Teach the Future’s goal of building a sustainable future through education and are supporting their work to prepare the next generation for climate action. We’ve already kicked things off by raising awareness about eco-anxiety - a growing issue among young people.

Helping to address eco-anxiety.

It’s all too easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the challenge that climate change presents. Rising sea levels, extreme weather, food and water insecurity, endangered species³. The issues are daunting and can make us feel powerless to make changes, bringing about eco-anxiety. Eco-anxiety is how we describe feelings of concern, fear, anger, and hopelessness about the future of our planet. They’re a totally natural response to the very real issue of climate change.

At E.ON Next we are on a journey towards becoming a renewable energy company. As part of this mission we’re raising awareness about eco-anxiety in the UK. We’ve collated research and helpful resources for people experiencing eco-anxiety. We’ve also collaborated with eco-psychologists, climate campaigners and a charity (Mind) to lead the conversation and turn eco-anxiety into positive climate action. In 2023, our Power Up For Change campaign saw us work with climate concerned podcast creators, and even produce our own guided meditation and breath work tutorials, to give listeners resources to understand and manage their eco-anxiety. According to our post-campaign brand lift study by Acast and Differentology, 91% of listeners said they felt more informed about eco-anxiety, and 90% said that they were more likely to take climate action after listening. 

These are just the first steps in our campaign to prevent eco-anxiety by educating and empowering the younger generation. Watch this space!

Helping customers find their energy solution.

Beyond offering fixed tariffs with 100% renewable electricity, we’re also helping homeowners to measure and manage their energy usage by installing smart meters in homes up and down the UK. Over 5 million smart meters are now benefiting our customers. Plus, E.ON have installed 1.5 million energy-saving measures in 450,000 households in the last 15 years across the UK.

We’re also well on our way to becoming a one-stop-shop for energy saving tech by offering a range of innovative home energy solutions to our customers. From solar panels to electric vehicle home chargers, energy efficient boilers and heat pumps - our energy solutions, installed by E.ON UK, could help customers to cut their energy use and carbon footprint.

Our Next Pledge.

We’ve brought innovation to our tariffs too, with the launch of Next Pledge and Next Drive. Next Pledge is a tariff that beats the price cap, and Next Drive is our EV tariff. 

With Next Pledge, customers can get energy prices guaranteed to stay £50 below the Ofgem price cap (T&Cs apply)*. Our Next Pledge tariff was called a 'no brainer', compared to other tariffs, by Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis in February 2024. Next Pledge guarantees savings^△ vs the price cap and unlike other fixed-term tariffs allows customers to automatically benefit if energy prices drop. 

With Next Drive, our EV tariff, we help our customers to take advantage of lower electricity prices when charging their electric vehicles overnight**.

Switch to Next Pledge.

With our Next Pledge tariff, you’ll get energy prices guaranteed to stay £50 below the Ofgem price cap. T&Cs apply. Unlike other fixed tariffs, you’ll also benefit if energy prices drop.

Note: Your energy rates will change whenever there’s a price cap review and your bills will vary depending on your usage.

Switch to Next Pledge

Shifting energy habits with the Demand Flexibility Service.

We’ve committed to help make using less energy feel rewarding. So since November 2022 we’ve been helping our customers to save energy and money by taking part in the National Grid’s Demand Flexibility Service.

The Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) is a project run by the National Grid Electricity Supply Operators (ESO). It rewards energy users for reducing their energy consumption during periods of high demand, which we call ‘events’. 

The National Grid ESO identifies peak times of day for electricity use, which happen because many of us share similar daily routines. By identifying periods of high demand for electricity consumption, the National Grid ESO can see when polluting coal back-up generators need to be used. During these periods of high demand, they ask us to use less electricity, then pay for the electricity we don’t use. The aim is to spread the demand for electricity to avoid relying on coal generators and keep Britain’s energy cleaner. 

By participating in DFS and sharing tips on how to cut energy usage, we helped E.ON Next customers to save a whopping 246,204.47 kWh of energy during 12 events. That’s enough energy to watch a 50W TV for 562 years. Or drive around the world 41 times in an electric vehicle!⁴

Here’s a quick rundown of the facts and figures of our DFS campaign:

• 144,878 E.ON Next customers took part in our events.

• 88,408 customers took part in our biggest energy saving event.

• £75 - the highest bill credit reward earned by a customer in a single event.

• £263.68 - what our top saver earned in bill credit over all 12 events.

Special mention also goes to our top three energy saving communities - Sheffield, Nottingham and Newcastle!

By keeping in touch with participants throughout the process and promoting energy saving tips, we’re helping our customers to build better energy habits, and get rewarded for using less.

And that wraps up an eventful first four years for us! We’re grateful for all the customers and colleagues who’ve joined us and contributed to making E.ON Next a place full of positive energy. Here’s to the years to come!