Known as Powergen until 2007, E.ON generate their own electricity, as well as run power stations, wind farms and biomass plants.
They’re one of the largest providers in the UK, powering 5 million homes and businesses, and offer the choice of a completely renewable tariff.
E.ON Energy Reviews
- Trustpilot: 0.7 out of 10, based on 583 reviews, rated ‘Bad’ overall.
- Which?: Overall customer score of 57% based on 1,023 customers. On average, customers rate them 3/5 for customer service, bill accuracy, helping to save energy, and value for money.
- Review Centre: 1.5 out of 5, based on 283 reviews.
- Citizens Advice: 3.65 out of 5, (total number of reviewers not available). E.ON came 10th in the Citizens Advice ranking of 23 energy companies. They score an average of 5 stars for ease of switching, and 3 stars for bill clarity.
E.ON Electricity, Gas & Dual Fuel Tariffs
The tariffs below are based on gas and electric for a home at a specific postcode with national average usage. For a more specific tariff, you can enter your own details on E.ON’s quote page.
E.ON Go Online 1 Year
- Gas – £37.77 monthly (£453.28 annually).
- Electricity – £38.80 monthly (£459.28 annually).
- Estimated monthly cost – £76.08.
- Total annual cost – £912.91.
- Fixed for 12 months.
- £30 exit fee per fuel.
- £10 annual discount for choosing paperless billing.
E.ON Clean Energy Fixed 1 Year
- Gas – £43.25 monthly (£519.05 annually).
- Electricity – £41.50 monthly (£498.04 annually).
- Estimated monthly cost – £84.76.
- Total annual cost – £1,017.09.
- 100% renewable electricity and Green Gas.
- Fixed for 12 months.
- £30 exit fee per fuel.
- £10 annual discount for choosing paperless billing.
- £20 annual ‘dual fuel’ discount.
E.ON Cap and Track 1 Year
- Gas – £40.92 monthly (£491.08 annually).
- Electricity – £46.14 monthly (£553.72 annually).
- Estimated monthly cost – £87.07.
- Total annual cost – £1,044.81.
- Fixed for 12 months.
- Prices capped and reviewed quarterly.
- No exit fee.
- No discounts available.
E.ON Energy Fixed 1 Year
- Gas – £45.07 monthly (£540.85 annually).
- Electricity – £43.32 monthly (£519.84 annually).
- Estimated monthly cost – £88.39.
- Total annual cost – £1,060.69.
- Fixed for 12 months.
- £10 annual discount for choosing paperless billing.
- £20 annual ‘dual fuel’ discount.
- No exit fee.
E.ON Fixed 1 Year Cinema Bundle
- Gas – £45.07 monthly (£540.85 annually).
- Electricity – £43.32 monthly (£519.84 annually).
- Estimated monthly cost – £88.39.
- Total annual cost – £1,060.69.
- Fixed for 12 months.
- 2 free cinema tickets for Odeon or Vue each month during your tariff (E.ON share your data in exchange for this offer).
- £10 annual discount for choosing paperless billing.
- £20 annual ‘dual fuel‘ discount.
- £25 exit fee per fuel type.
E.ON Energy Fixed 2 Year
- Gas – £46.44 monthly (£557.23 annually).
- Electricity – £44.68 monthly (£536.12 annually).
- Estimated monthly cost – £91.11.
- Total annual cost – £1,093.35.
- Fixed for 2 years.
- £10 annual discount for choosing paperless billing.
- £20 annual ‘dual fuel’ discount.
- No exit fee.
E.ON EnergyPlan
- Gas – £46.44 monthly (£557.23 annually).
- Electricity – £44.68 monthly (£536.12 annually).
- Estimated monthly cost – £91.11.
- Total annual cost – £1,093.35.
- Prices aren’t fixed, no commitment to a specific term.
- £10 annual discount for choosing paperless billing.
- £20 annual ‘dual fuel’ discount.
- No exit fee.
Note the tariffs listed above were correct at the time of writing (8 November 2017), although as noted, prices will vary by post code and subject to change at any time.
A Feed-in Tariff is also available, where you can be paid for generating your own electricity.
E.ON Business Energy
E.ON’s business energy packages focus on cutting costs, tailoring consumption and reducing overall carbon emissions. Specific details and tariff prices aren’t available on their website, but you can request a callback.
Smaller businesses can sign up for a fixed contract, or pay variable/out of contract prices. Larger businesses can have energy prices fixed for 5 years, purchase their own energy, or choose a flexible product.
For the environmentally conscious, E.ON provides Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) backed supply, meaning larger businesses can reduce their carbon emissions.
It’s important for large businesses in particular to show they’re being proactive about their energy consumption, especially with mandatory carbon reporting. E.ON claim to have reduced businesses’ average carbon emissions by 30%.
For more see: 2020 E.ON Business Electricity & Gas Tariffs & Rates
E.ON Background
They’re the “world’s largest investor-owned power and gas company”, but compared to the other ‘Big Six’, E.ON are actually the lowest earners. E.ON formed in 2002 after two German energy companies merged, but then it was called Powergen and government-owned.
E.ON’s energy network could wrap around the Earth 25 times – there’s 1 million kilometres of it. They generate renewable energy at every step of their supply chain, including wind farms, power plants, biomass plants and the UK’s first wave power generator. They run 16 onshore and 5 offshore wind farms, and have invested £2.4 billion in renewable energy to date.
If you’re more interested in the specifics of E.ON’s environmental credentials, you can read their 2016 Sustainability Report.
E.ON Smart Meter
It was E.ON’s aim to have 1 million smart meters installed by 2015, but it’s not clear whether they’ve achieved that or not. Like the other ‘Big Six’, they’re gradually rolling out smart meters to their customers and contact people individually to set up their installation.
If you’re an E.ON customer (or becoming one) and extra keen, you can register your interest with them.
Smart meters mean you don’t have to manually submit meter readings anymore and your bill will be more accurate. You can also monitor your usage on the screen throughout the day and reduce consumption in real-time.
Your electricity usage will be reported every few seconds, and your gas usage every half an hour. The government have set a deadline for energy companies to provide all eligible customers with smart meters free of charge by 2020.
Other E.ON Meters
Using E.ON’s quite difficult to navigate online assistant, you can find guidance on how to read a digital display, rotating counter, dial, SMART of prepayment meter. It’s not very visual though, so it loses points compared to providers who have more detailed online tutorials.
E.ON Smart Pay As You Go customers can top up their meter from their phone or laptop, giving them a much more convenient way to manage their energy. Pay As You Go customers will need to get a smart meter installed to switch to Smart Pay As You Go.
E.ON Bills
There’s a brief video in E.ON’s help section which purports to explain your bill, but ultimately just tells you to go online to get the full details. In the FAQs, there are more specific questions about billing, including how to make a payment and why a bill might have more than one set of charges on it.
Navigating the FAQs is tricky and some answers are much more detailed than others. Existing customers would be wise to log in online to find out specific billing details, or use their visual breakdown of what an average bill will look like.
E.ON Warm Home Discount
E.ON was part of the 2017/18 Warm Home Discount scheme, which gives vulnerable people £140 towards their energy bills. You can register your interest for winter 2018/19 on their website.
E.ON App
The E.ON app is available on iPhone and Android, allowing customers to track energy usage, pay their bill and submit meter readings remotely.
3,579 Android user reviews give it 3 stars overall. Confusingly for new users, the Android app has almost equal 5 star and 1 star reviews, which might be down to personal preference or a few annoying glitches.
1,885 Apple users have scored it 2 stars on average, mainly citing problems with logging in or accessing crucial parts of the app.
Switching To E.ON
Switching from your existing supplier takes around 17 days – you can track how the switch is going using your online account.
They’ll contact the customer when they need the first meter reading, and they advise you settle any final bills with your existing energy company as soon as possible to speed up the switch.
Moving Home With E.ON
If you’re moving house and to a different supplier, you can fill out E.ON’s moving home form with your details. They don’t explicitly say when you should let them know, but a good rule of thumb is to let your supplier know when you know your moving out date.
To stay with E.ON after your move, the details you need to provide are much the same. They suggest you call them to let them know rather than filling out the online form.
As tariffs vary from region to region, and depending on what kind of home you live in and how your boiler functions, you might find the prices go up or down if you move to a different area.
E.ON Fuel Mix
Coal – 12.0% (8.5% UK average)
Gas – 36.8% (44.1%)
Nuclear – 10.1% (21.0%)
Renewable – 37.2% (24.2%)
Other – 3.9% (2.2%)
E.ON Feed-in Tariff
E.ON is a mandatory Feed-in Tariff (FIT) licensee. This means you can receive your FIT payments from them (as long as your system is MCS certified) if you are an E.ON customer or your current energy supplier is not a FIT licensee. You can learn more on their website.
E.ON In the News
Germany’s E.ON says 2017 outlook on track as profits surge
8 Nov 2017, Yahoo! News
E.ON’s revenue is up after a “strong third quarter”, mainly thanks for increased sales in Sweden, eastern-central Europe, and Italy.
Eon to have 10,000 EV charging points across Europe by 2020
6 Nov 2017, Autocar
E.ON are planning to install 10,000 electric car charging points throughout Europe by 2020, significantly more than four major car manufacturers are planning to build in the same period.
Big six energy firms lose 163,000 customers as British Gas raises prices
13 Oct 2017, The Guardian
‘The Big Six’ energy companies lost 160,000 customers in September 2017 alone. Their price increases have urged people to switch to smaller suppliers and use comparison sites more diligently.
E.ON chief: Theresa May’s energy price cap will hurt competition
10 Oct 2017, The Guardian
The head of E.ON commented on the government’s proposed price cap on energy bills, claiming it “deters new companies and hurts consumers”. Chief Executive Michael Lewis thinks the company’s investment in renewable energy will be threatened.
E.ON Complaints
88% of E.ON’s Trustpilot reviews are ‘Bad’, including examples of poor customer service and surprise bills. A few customers are angry enough to talk about involving the ombudsman.
Ratings on Which? are much more favourable, but no actual customer testimony is provided.
According to E.ON’s own stats, they received 139,477 complaints in quarter 1 of 2017 and 135,783 in quarter 2. They claim that 67% were resolved by the next business day.
Contact Phone Numbers & Email
Phone: Various numbers for different departments.
Email: Online form on the E.ON website.
E.ON Address
Colliers Way, Nottingham, NG8 6AL.
Website: https://www.eonenergy.com
E.ON Summary
‘The Big Six’ regularly raise prices, which is something all their future customers should be aware of before switching. According to The Telegraph’s 2017 rankings, E.ON take third place. They’re not the worst, but they’re certainly not the best.
E.ON’s focus on renewable energy could be appealing for some, particularly as they provide a 100% renewable tariff (at a small premium), but it’s important to read that small print so you’re fully informed. They may use more renewable than many others, but they use more coal than the national average too.
Renewables are considered to be “self-financing” by E.ON, so their business plan focuses on continuing to develop how they generate renewable energy. Hopefully this means there’ll be even more renewable options for domestic customers in the next few years.
Pros:
- Fuel mix uses more renewable than average, and there’s a 100% renewable tariff available.
- Switching should be pretty quick if their 17 day average is to be believed.
- Smart meters are coming gradually, but you have the same chance of getting one with any of ‘The Big Six’.
- Discounts for paperless billing and paying by Direct Debit.
Cons:
- The website’s help section is very difficult to navigate and sometimes not that helpful.
- No breakdown cover or insurance available, unlike some of the other ‘Big Six’ energy companies.
- Business customers can access more renewable energy and carbon offset schemes than domestic customers – depending on which kind of customer you are, this could be a pro or a con.
- The reviews are a mixture of terrible and not bad, so it’s hard for new customers to judge.