Opus Energy Agrees New Smart Meter Partnership for Business Customers

May 20, 2009 - PRLog -- Opus Energy Agrees New Smart Meter Partnership for Business Customers
Free smart meters helping Opus Energy customers to reduce energy usage and costs


20 May 2009: Opus Energy, a leading independent supplier of electricity to UK businesses, has expanded its portfolio of smart meter providers through a new partnership with Stark. The deal will help Opus Energy continue to fulfil its commitment to its business customers by providing smart meters free of charge.  

The Stark contract, along with existing IMServ and Bglobal plc (AIM: BGBL) agreements includes the delivery of electricity smart metering, remote data collection and meter operations for Opus Energy’s customers.

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 – equivalent to the entire carbon footprint of Bristol.

Charlie Crossley Cooke, Managing Director of Opus Energy said: “Our long term ambition is to ensure all our customers have smart meters installed and in order to do this we need to make sure we have the capacity at our fingertips. By expanding our portfolio of smart meter providers, we now have strengthened our ability to roll them out faster.  Although we are the first company to make smart meters available to customers at no cost, we also want to make sure we maintain this competitive advantage. We anticipate the demand in smart meters will continue to increase, especially following the government’s recent support for this technology to be installed domestically throughout the UK.

Howard Stark, Managing Director at Stark said: “We recently extended our portfolio of accredited data collection services to include a smart metering service and are delighted that Opus Energy is one our first customers. We have a strong record of developing and marketing a range of innovative data management products that help organisations cut energy waste, reduce energy expenditure and meet their carbon reduction commitments. Introducing a smart metering market product was a natural step and we are excited to be rolling out our service to many of Opus Energy’s customers.”

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Opus Energy is a leading independent supplier of electricity to UK businesses. With offices in Northampton and Oxford, it employs over 200 people. Opus Energy supplies 50,000 UK business sites across all sectors. Large customers include: Stagecoach, Thorntons, Farmfoods, FirstGroup, Cumbria County Council and Deloitte & Touche.

Opus Energy’s management team has a 50 percent stake in the business, while International Power Plc (LSE:IPR.L) holds 30 percent and Telecom Plus Plc (LSE: TEP.L ) has 20 percent. For further information about Opus Energy, please see www.opusenergy.com