E.ON debuts no-win, no-fee carbon saving service

Energy giant E.ON has this week announced the launch of a business service that promises to cover the upfront cost of carbon saving projects as part of a "no-gain, no-fee" arrangement.

The company has teamed up with onsite renewables specialist Self Energy UK to provide the new Energy Performance Guarantee (EPG) service, which emulates the government's recently announced Pay As You Save green home loan scheme by allowing businesses to pay back the initial upfront cost of building improvements over time through reduced energy bills.

Under the scheme, E.ON's Sustainable Energy business and Self Energy UK will pay for the installation of onsite renewable energy systems, such as rooftop solar panels or wind turbines.

The technology is accompanied by the development of a new energy use strategy designed to deliver "guaranteed" energy savings that exceed the cost of implementation, allowing customers to realise cost savings while still paying back the initial investment. Should the cost savings fail to materialise, the company will not be obliged to pay back the upfront costs.

"We'll fund and fit efficiency measures, with none of the financial burden going to our customers," said Michael Woodhead, managing director of E.ON’s Sustainable Energy business. "The upfront costs are ours and customers only pay from energy savings that they make over a fixed contract period – it's a win-win situation for them."

The contract lengths are expected to vary based on the scale of the upfront costs. The most ambitious projects are likely to result in contracts of up to 25 years that are capable of spreading the repayments over a sufficiently long period to ensure monthly energy bill savings exceed the cost of repayments.

The compamy today also launched a free energy monitor and software toolkit designed to help small business track their energy use. The new Business EnergyManager monitor and downloadable software aims to provide firms with easy to access information on how much energy they are using and whether they are using tghe appropriate business tariff and energy meter.

Iain Walker, head of SME sales at the company, said that providing small businesses with information on how much energy they are using should help encourage them to curb energy use where possible.

The new initiatives are part of an expanding portfolio of services from E.ON's Sustainable Energy business as it seeks to join the rush of energy consultancy firms attempting to tap into growing demand from organisations seeking to comply with the government's imminent Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme. The company is now offering a range of services designed to support CRC compliance, including energy audits and employee energy saving initiatives.