Opus Energy Sources Smart Meters with Bglobal

Businesses can reduce their energy usage by monitoring with free smart meters

25 March 2007: Opus Energy, a leading independent supplier of electricity to UK businesses, has today collaborated with Bglobal plc (AIM: BGBL), the leading smart metering and energy data services company in a £3m deal which will see Opus Energy continue to fulfil its commitment to become the first energy company in the UK to offer smart meters free to all its customers.

The contract with Bglobal includes the delivery of electricity smart metering, remote data collection and meter operations for all Opus Energy’s customers. Opus Energy is planning a fast roll-out of the service to its customers, with the first batch of 5,000 being installed now.

Opus Energy is the first energy company to make smart meters available to all its customers free of charge. Smart meters allow businesses to proactively manage their electricity consumption, by providing accurate up to date meter readings. Customers can then choose to streamline their energy usage, saving costs and reducing their carbon footprint.

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.

Charlie Crossley Cooke, managing director of Opus Energy said: “Following on from a successful pilot initiative, customers are most impressed with the accuracy of their bills. The smart meters provide up-to-date meter reads which means that customers can have access to detailed information about their energy consumption. This is an essential step for customers wanting to reduce their costs through energy saving initiatives. With so many benefits for our customers, we are committed to making this type of technology available; our partnership with Bglobal will strengthen our ability to roll them out faster”

Tony Stiff, commercial director at Bglobal said: “We are delighted to be working with Opus Energy on this important project. Our market leading position with the right technology at the right price makes it now very cost effective for energy companies like Opus Energy to provide new and enhanced services to differentiate them in the supply of electricity. Our cost model made it possible for Opus Energy to provide smart meters free of charge to its customers which was a crucial requirement for the company.”

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Opus Energy Press Office
Georgina Ruttle / Susie Patterson
T. 0207 269 7255 / 7233
E. georgina.ruttle@fd.com / susie.patterson@fd.com

Opus Energy is a leading independent supplier of business electricity offering companies best-price electricity together with tailored customer care. Its flexible, tailor-made solutions suit businesses across the SME and larger corporate market. Opus, with offices in Oxford and Northampton, has over 40,000 customers across the country, including Yell Group, Thorntons, Reuters, Farmfoods and Deloitte & Touche.
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.
For further information, please see www.opusenergy.co.uk

This release was published on openPR.