British Gas goes green to win new customers

Green may be the colour you go when you get your latest British Gas bill, but the company is hoping for a different kind of association as it bolsters its environment-friendly credentials.

The Centrica subsidiary is launching a new business aimed at winning customers concerned about their carbon footprint or eager to save money by reducing the energy they waste. It will be run by Gearid Lane, previously Centrica’s director of energy procurement.
British Gas New Energy will compete in a market the company values at several billion pounds a year selling rooftop solar panels, energy-efficient boilers and credits to offset customers’ personal carbon emissions.

Sam Laidlaw, Centrica chief executive, said: “Most UK homes are poorly insulated and the energy loss and emission levels from them are much higher than they could be.”

New initiatives from the company that jacked up gas bills by 22pc and a further 12pc in 2006, before a 17pc reduction this year, include launching a service providing Energy Performance Certificates.

Giving an energy-efficiency rating, these certificates will become mandatory for anyone selling homes in the UK from this June, affecting 1.4m sales a year.

Telegraph