Home News Technology Efficiency E.ON attempts to woo green firms with free energy monitor offer
Energy giant E.ON has launched a new offer designed to help attract energy-conscious small businesses to its three-year "Business Electricity Plan" contract.
The company announced yesterday that the first 850 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) signing up to the tariff will receive a free Asus Netbook and the company's Business EnergyManager smart meter package.
"We know that businesses need all the help they can get with their energy bills right now," said Iain Walker, head of business sales at E.ON, in a statement. "That's why we've launched a package that not only offers competitive prices, but also the tools to help businesses get energy fit by really appreciating how and where they're using energy in the workplace."
The EnergyManager package includes a real time energy monitor for tracking energy usage in a building and integrated software that allows managers to track energy usage online. The system is also supported by mobile phone apps that allow managers to track energy usage in the office using their mobile devices.
Speaking to BusinessGreen, E.ON SME proposition's manager, Tina Cowley, said that customers would be able to use the free netbook and the energy monitor to identify areas where they can save energy.
"Once you have the system in place for 30 days you can download the data to the netbook and then see your energy use in graphical form," she explained. "That will allow customers to see how and when they are using energy and identify areas where they can save energy, such as using it overnight, for example."
She added that the offer was open to all customers on 03 and 04 profile meters who use more than 10kWh of electricity a year.
The company predicted strong demand for the new offer, adding that a recent survey of more than 1,100 SMEs had found that 87 per cent of employees believe their colleagues behave irresponsibly in their approach to energy efficiency.
E.ON is one of a number of utilities to offer free smart meters to both domestic and corporate customers, as part of the UK's programme to ensure all buildings have interactive smart meters installed by 2018.
For example, only last week British Gas launched a free smart meter programme for small businesses, arguing that new monitoring devices can help firms identify that almost half the energy they are using is being wasted.
Source: Business Green
