Energy suppliers have a duty to help businesses with bills, says EDF exec
Suppliers have a duty to help businesses stay afloat through easing the conditions of their energy bills, a senior executive at EDF Energy has argued.
Philippe Commaret, managing director of customers at the Big Six supplier, told City A.M. it has offered small and medium businesses softer terms on new contracts because markets remain volatile, despite this year’s declines in gas prices.
He said: “It was our duty, as one of the largest suppliers of electricity, to continue to provide energy to those customers when their contract was terminating.”
The French state-backed firm has offered support to 100,000 small and medium businesses, including so-called ‘blend and extend’ options to some firms.
This is where companies needing new contracts are offered lengthened terms but with lower monthly costs to help ease energy bills, with gas prices still around double pre-crisis trading levels.
Unlike households, businesses are not supported with a price cap and have to sign long-term contracts for their energy usage.
EDF has offered contract extensions of up to three years, taking as much as half off of the upfront monthly energy costs.
The suppliers’ customers include businesses with very tight margins such as high street shops which are already dealing with pressures such as higher wholesale costs for products and pricier tenancy agreements.
Commaret said he felt it was incumbent on EDF to offer easier terms to customers “at risk of no man’s land” – paying ultra high bills without a contract – and said support for shops could be “very significant.”
He also confirmed EDF will pursue “lower prices in the market when opportunity arises”.
EDF is not the only firm providing blend and extend options to businesses with British Gas owner Centrica also providing a similar solution to its business customers.
This follows the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) warning that over 90,000 businesses were at risk of closing, downsizing or restructuring unless suppliers showed flexibility.
FSB national chair Martin McTague told City PM earlier this month that the ‘blend and extend’ option was “vital” to these businesses’ survival.