Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

Opus Energy announces free Smart Meters for all customers

Opus Energy – a leading independent electricity supplier to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) and corporate customers – today unveiled a £5million plan to provide new energy-saving Smart Meters free of charge to all its customers.

An industry first, the scheme, which rolled out in September 2007, aims to dramatically improve the accuracy of customers’ bills by providing automatic usage readings that can be read remotely by Opus Energy.

Charlie Crossley Cooke, MD of Opus Energysaid: “This is a significant investment for us, but we feel strongly that when this type of technology is available – with so many benefits for our customers, it should be provided free of charge. Smart Meters will not only improve the accuracy of our customers’ bills, the technology will also save them time and money, with the added benefit of helping to reduce climate change. “

Figures released by The Carbon Trust state that Smart Meter technology has the potential to save UK SMEs £300million every year. In addition, a possible 5.1 million tonnes of CO2 could be saved each year – the equivalent to the entire carbon footprint of Bristol.

Crossley Cooke, adds: “Our customers told us that Smart Meters are a priority for their business, so we’ve listened and decided to provide them free of charge.”

The Smart Meters, which will be supplied to Opus Energy by IMServ, will enable Opus Energy to take real-time meter readings remotely, saving the customer the hassle of needing to submit their own meter readings and ensuring that bills are more accurate than ever before.

About Opus Energy

Opus Energy is a leading independent supplier of electricity to UK businesses, based in Northampton. It has over 40,000 customers across the country, including Yell Group, Thorntons, Farmfoods and Deloitte & Touche. Opus offers companies best-price electricity together with tailored customer care. Its flexible, tailor-made solutions suit businesses across the SME and larger corporate market.

Between April 2006 and March 2007, 66% of the energy supplied by Opus Energy to its customers came from cleaner, low-carbon sources – 47% from renewable generators and 19% from cleaner Combined Heat and Power (CHP) produced by CHP generators.

www.opusenergy.co.uk