E.ON
Profile
Electric utility E.ON is one of the “Big Six” energy companies in the UK and a major power provider in Germany, where it is based. Back In 2009, Ruhrgas AG (a predecessor of E.ON) was fined €553 million for conspiring to fix prices of gas imported from Russia via the MEGAL pipeline.
Although it was historically a major fossil fuel provider, E.ON spun off its fossil fuel assets into a new company named Uniper in 2016. Subsequently it claimed to offer “100% renewable energy tariffs” to customers, despite nearly half of its energy capacity being powered by fossil fuels or nuclear power. In 2009, E.ON was accused of greenwashing for claiming to use an “integrated” technology approach after installing a few solar panels on top of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire, England. The panels were estimated to have saved 6.3 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year, equal to less than one millionth of the emissions from the power plant itself. In 2019, E.ON claimed that all its 3.3 million customers in the UK were being switched to 100 percent renewable energy plans. Good Energy, a rival electricity company, summed up the matter succinctly: "E-ON is moving its customers to a 52% renewable, 48% greenwash tariff."
Electric utility services, coal, nuclear, natural gas, biomass, other renewables.
E.ON was profiled as part of the report "Green" Multinationals Exposed: How the Energy Transition is Being Hijacked by Corporate Interests.
Violations
| TOP OFFENCE GROUPS (GROUPS DEFINED) | PENALTY TOTAL | NUMBER OF CASES |
|---|---|---|
| consumer-protection-related offences | £72,814,489 | 15 |
| competition-related offences | £10,207,679 | 6 |
| safety-related offences | £10,000 | 1 |
| employment-related offences | £4,615 | 1 |
(November 13, 2023)
Stories
- Pipelines in Politics: The Power of the Gas Lobby in Germany by Lobby Control (2023)
- Come Clean on Green: Greenwashing of electricity tariffs in the UK market by Good Energy & Scottish Power (2021)
- ‘Not Fit for Purpose’: Residents’ Experiences of E.ON’s District Heating System on the Myatts Field North Estate and Oval Quarter development in Lambeth, London by Dr Stuart Hodkinson, Ruth London & Fuel Poverty Action (2017)
- Commission and Big Energy keep cooking the climate, despite Paris Agreement by Corporate Europe Observatory (2016)
- In trouble with your energy company? A mini-guide to your rights by Fuel Poverty Action (2013)
- E.ON: Oversleeping the future of energy by Oxfam Germany (2009)
Activism
Germany: Eon out: RheinEnergie in the hands of the citizens
Attac | February 4, 2023
RheinEnergie AG has signed a strategic partnership with the Eon subsidiary West Energy. The climate movement and civil society fear that the climate and social interests will be sacrificed to the pursuit of profit... We demand remunicipalisation instead of further privatisation!
Germany: Another citizens' initiative against Neumünster Utilities
Thorsten Geil | Kieler Nachrichten | December 21, 2022
The already successful citizens' initiative against partial sales of the Neumünster Utilities (SWN) has reported back: "Our SWN - Our Utilities" has formally applied to be recognized as a citizens' initiative with the city. It wants to reverse the council decision to a partially sell the electricity and gas networks... The city's utilities would be under complete control of Eon after the deal.
Germany: 2000 euros additional payments: People from Hamburg are protesting against E.ON
Jan Schubert | Abendblatt | October 26, 2022
Energy suppliers are demanding outrageously high payments and deductions for heating costs. This is why people in Lohbrügge are taking to the streets.
United Kingdom: Let’s take our power back. 1 December, we strike.
Don't Pay UK | October 26, 2022
E.ON, the UK’s largest energy supplier, even went running scared to the government to warn about the Don’t Pay campaign, claiming we were an ‘existential threat’ to the energy sector. Now, let’s make that threat a reality.
United Kingdom: Protest planned outside E.ON's Nottingham offices as energy costs soar
Caroline Barry | Nottingham Post | August 12, 2022
A major protest is planned for outside the Nottingham offices of energy provider, E.ON. The protest is scheduled to take place at Trinity House on Friday, August 26 starting at 5:30 pm. The aim is to highlight the effect that the wider energy crisis and soaring bills have had on people.
Germany: Broad alliance against RWE-E.ON deal
Naturstrom | May 11, 2022
The mega deal, with which the major corporations E.ON and RWE want to divide up the energy market, is increasingly being criticized. Numerous energy suppliers and other players in the energy industry are bundling their protests in the #wirspielennichtmit (#wewontcooperate) movement.
United Kingdom: We did it – pension, pay and job package for E:ON workers
UNISON | January 2019
After 18 months of drawn out negotiations, UNISON and the three other recognised national trade unions at the company worked collectively to negotiate a much-improved pension, pay and jobs package with E:ON that was accepted by members and passed all balloting thresholds.
Germany: Citizens' initiative takes aim at waste incineration
Joachim Wilisch | Märkische Allgemeine | August 8, 2018
After protests against the construction projects around the Eon Energy from Waste (EEW) waste incineration plant, a citizens' initiative is now being founded.
Germany: Unions to push for job security in RWE-E.ON mega utility deal
Tom Kaeckenhoff, Christoph Steitz & Maria Sheahan | Reuters | March 15, 2018
Labor unions want to move quickly to commit energy groups E.ON EONGn.DE and RWE RWEG.DE to avoiding forced redundancies in the planned break-up of RWE's networks and renewables unit Innogy IGY.DE, a board member of the Verdi union said.
Germany: Protest against Uniper's biomass policy at the annual general meeting
Tom Kaeckenhoff, Christoph Steitz & Maria Sheahan | Denkhaus Bremen | June 8, 2017
Think House Bremen, Rainforest Rescue, SOS Southern Forests and the Association of Ethical Shareholders protested at Uniper's Annual General Meeting. The protest was directed against the group's wood-biomass policy.
United Kingdom: Power for the people: Demanding energy justice
Global Justice Now | October 2014
In the UK, Fuel Poverty Action is campaigning for an end to the power of the big six energy firms (British Gas, EDF, E.On, Npower, SSE and Scottish Power) and demanding a transition to affordable, clean energy.
United Kingdom: E.ON – Hands Off Our Homes!
Fuel Poverty Action | July 22, 2014
Complaints against energy companies have reached a record high as people refuse to tolerate rip-off bills and bullying from the Big 6 energy profiteers. Yet, for residents on Myatts Field North estate in south London, there is no escape from E.ON who have a monopoly on the estate’s heating and hot water under a Private Finance Initiative.
International:
United Kingdom:
- Biofuel Watch
- Camp for Climate Action
- Don't Pay UK
- Eastside Climate Action
- Fuel Poverty Action
- Global Justice Now
- Myatts Field North Residents’ Association
- Notting Hill Oval Quarter Residents’ Association
- Oval Quarter Residents’ Association
- Power to the People
- Stop Kingsnorth
- UNISON
- Unite the Union
- We Own It
Germany:
- Association of Ethical Shareholders
- Attac
- Climate Change Cologne
- Consumer Protection Center Niedersachsen
- German Trade Union Confederation (DGB)
- Lobby Control
- IG Mining, Chemicals, Energy (IG BCE)
- Rainforest Rescue
- Robin Wood
- Think House Bremen
- United Services Trade Union (Ver.di)
- We Won't Cooperate: E.ON-RWE Deal
France:
- General Confederation of Labour (CGT)
- SOS Southern Forests
- The French Confederation of Management – General Confederation of Executives (CFE-CGC)
& Lawsuits
Germany: Lawsuit against E.ON successful
Verbraucherzentrale Niedersachsen | July 11, 2023
The Lower Saxony Consumer Protection Office warned E.ON Energie Deutschland GmbH for difficulting customers' special right of termination. Consumers need to inform the energy supplier eleven days prior to the price change. The Munich Regional Court upheld the consumer protection center's lawsuit.
United Kingdom: E.ON Next ordered to hand over £5m in compensation after watchdog discovers 'severe weaknesses' in customer service
Harry Wise | This is Money | June 15, 2023
E.ON Next will pay £5million in compensation after more than 500,000 of the energy supplier's customers were potentially impacted by poor customer service.
United Kingdom: Three energy suppliers pay £8 million for customer compensation failures
OFGEM | May 17, 2023
E.On Next, Good Energy and Octopus Energy either missed or unduly delayed the compensation payments, which are due if a supplier does not provide a final bill within six weeks when a customer switches to another provider.
Germany: Eon raising prices by up to 45 percent: Consumer protection office announces electricity price investigations
N-TV | April 15, 2023
Citizen complaints about high energy costs are increasing at consumer protection centers. Eon, for example, is raising prices for basic services by up to 45 percent. The consumer protection office announces investigations against black sheep among suppliers.
United Kingdom: Energy Broker Commission Claim
Leigh Day | February 11, 2023
Leigh Day is investigating a potential group claim against several UK energy suppliers (including but not limited to British Gas, EON, Total Gas & Power, EDF Energy and Shell Energy) over allegations they failed to disclose to customers that the brokers, through which customers were negotiating their energy contract, were receiving a commission for referring business to the suppliers.
Germany: Local utilities file fresh market distortion lawsuit against E.ON-RWE deal
Benjamin Wehrmann | Clean Energy Wire | February 2, 2021
A group of local utilities in Germany will double down on legal action against the landmark deal between energy companies E.ON and RWE, which they say amounts to market distortion.
United Kingdom: E.ON fined £7.75m for overcharging customers
Lisa Bachelor | The Guardian | April 2, 2015
Energy regulator Ofgem imposed the £7.75m penalty after it discovered E.ON was incorrectly charging exit fees and overcharging customers following price rises in 2013 and 2014.
United Kingdom: E.ON to pay £12 million for misselling scandal
Graeme Evans | The Scotsman | May 17, 2014
ENERGY supplier E.ON is to pay a record £12 million to vulnerable customers after an investigation found it broke energy sales rules over a three-year period.
Europe: Eon has to pay a fine of 38 million euros
Handelsblatt | November 22, 2011
The energy company Eon has to pay a fine of 38 million euros for obstructing investigations into antitrust violations.
Portugal: E.On: The Bidder for the Privatization of EDP Fined in Spain
CNN Portugal | November 14, 2011
The German company E.On, which is bidding for the privatization of EDP, was fined by the Spanish Competition Authority for abuse of a dominant position this Monday, reports the EFE news agency.
Germany: Eon sentenced to high fine in the fight for customers
Swiss Info | October 4, 2010
The Eon regional company Eon Edis, based in Brandenburg, has to pay a fine of 650,000 euros for obstructing new electricity providers from taking over.
Antitrust: European Commission fines E.ON and GDF Suez €553 million each for market-sharing in French and German gas markets
European Commission | July 8, 2009
Ruhrgas AG (now E.ON Ruhrgas, part of the E.ON group) and Gaz de France (now part of GDF Suez) agreed in 1975, when they decided to jointly build the MEGAL pipeline across Germany to import Russian gas into Germany and France, not to sell gas transported over this pipeline in each other's home markets.
Environmental Impacts
United Kingdom: E-ON is moving its customers to a 52% renewable, 48% greenwash tariff
Ian McKee | Good Energy | July 15, 2019
E-ON states it has renewable capacity to power 1.7 million homes, which is just over half of its 3.3 million customer base. So, what about the other half? E-ON’s blog on the news states that “the rest is backed by renewable electricity certificates”, presumably meaning UK REGOs (Renewable Energy Certificates of Origin) or potentially Guarantee of Origin (GOOs) certificates from elsewhere in Europe.
Italy: Fiume Santo power plant: E.On top management arrested
Monia Melis | ASUD | May 9, 2015
They allegedly did not report the continuous oil spills into the ground, aquifers and sea for years. As a result, the soil and subsoil in areas of collective interest, were damaged, leaving an environmental damage yet to be quantified with possible consequences for public health.
Italy: What is TAP, the mega gas pipeline that D'Alema's friend liked so much
Emiliano Fittipaldi & Chiara Spagnolo | L'Espresso | November 29, 2013
The parliament is about to give the definitive yes to the gas pipeline project that will arrive from Azerbaijan in Puglia. But the mayors and inhabitants of the Salento coast don't like the idea: they fear that the structure will damage the coasts.
Germany: Greenpeace activists are protesting against plutonium transport
Greenpeace | September 23, 2012
"Stop E.on's nuclear deals" demanded the activists on banners. The inflatable boats circled the nuclear carrier Atlantic Osprey as it moored in the port of Nordenham.
United Kingdom: Campaign success: EON shelves plans for dirty coal at Kingsnorth
Global Justice Now | October 7, 2009
We have been campaigning to Stop Kingsnorth because the new power station would have emitted more CO2 than Tanzania, and could have caused 20,000 people to become homeless and meant that 100, 000 more people lost their dry water season supply. This news is a massive victory for those people.
Germany: Farmer successfully sues against power plant
Süddeutsche Zeitung | September 4, 2009
A farmer's successful lawsuit jeopardizes a multi-billion dollar power plant project by the energy company Eon in the northern Ruhr area.
United Kingdom: Protesters target E.ON's Ratcliffe plant
Tim Castle | Reuters | August 31, 2009
Environmentalists campaigning against climate change said on Monday they would attempt to shut down German utility E.ON’s power station at Ratcliffe in central England in a mass action planned for October.
United Kingdom: Eastside Climate Action blockade E-on workers as part of Fossil Fools Day
Indy Media UK | April 1, 2008
At 7:30 this morning 30 people blockaded the entrances to E-on's offices on Mount St, Nottingham City Centre. People covered in green paint to represent E-on's greenwash, locked onto the front entrance to E-on's office and stood in front of other entrances preventing E-on workers from getting to work.
German and Russian environmentalists protest against nuclear waste imports
Bellona | March 28, 2007
The protests, which took place next to the headquarters of the energy giant E.On in the German city of Düsseldorf, were organized by the anti-nuclear activist groups “Ecodefense!” and “Aktionsbündnis Münsterland gegen Atomanlagen”. According to environmental reports, “Urenco Deutschland Gmbh” has been exporting depleted uranium from their plant in Gronau to Russia since 1996.
United Kingdom: New figures reveal scale of industry's impact on climate
David Adams & Rob Evans | The Guardian | May 16, 2006
A league table compiled by the Guardian identifies EON UK, the electricity generator that owns Powergen, as Britain's biggest corporate emitter of greenhouse gases. It produced 26.4m tonnes of carbon dioxide last year - slightly more than Croatia did.
Austria: Greenpeace activists occupy E.ON Vienna headquarters in protest against Temelin
Vladimír Tax | Radio Prague International | February 27, 2001
Members of the international environmental organisation Greenpeace occupied the Vienna office of the German power utility E.ON on Monday. They were protesting against the renewal of test operations at the Czech Republic's Temelin nuclear power station.
& Relations
Germany: Consumer advocates warn: E.on is ripping off some of its customers
T-Online | February 11, 2023
Several energy suppliers are allegedly currently pushing customers into expensive new contracts or threatening to terminate them.
United Kingdom: Furious couple slams E.ON after paying £9,500 for 'cowboy' solar panel installation which left them with damaged roof which leaks when it rains
Natasha Anderson | Daily Mail | November 29, 2022
A couple has slammed energy company E.ON for 'poor treatment' after having spent £9,500 on a 'cowboy' solar panel installation that led to roof damage and flooding.
United Kingdom: Eon apologises for sending socks to customers with advice to 'turn down heating'
Elizabeth Haigh | Leading Britain's Conversation | January 14, 2022
The move sparked widespread backlash in the wake of spiralling energy bills as millions of Brits face paying up to £1,200 more next year as a cost of living crisis grips the nation. Eon tweeted that they are "incredibly sorry".
United Kingdom: E.ON to pay back 1.6 million customers thousands in refunds after taking direct debit payments early
Linda Howard | Daily Record | April 22, 2021
Energy giant E.ON has agreed to pay back £650,000 to 1.6 million customers after charging them earlier than their direct debit had agreed in December, leaving them out of pocket over Christmas.
Germany: Verdict against Eon: A phone call is not enough
Ines Rutschmann | Finanztip News | April 30, 2021
Imagine this: the phone rings and a friendly person wants to talk to you about the electricity price. You have an offer explained to you, you are interested. And then you suddenly have a new electricity contract without having signed or confirmed anything in writing. That's actually how it went in the case of Eon.
United Kingdom: New report shows E.ON’s district heating ‘not fit for purpose’ on regenerated London estate
Dan Goss | Fuel Poverty Action | April 28, 2017
These residents were connected to a new heat network run by E.ON without proper consultation as part of a controversial regeneration scheme under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) starting from 2012. Lambeth’s district heating contract with E.ON is binding until 2052.
United Kingdom: Gas giants under fire for ‘hidden’ profits
Socialist Worker | November 15, 2016
The report was commissioned by industry body Energy UK. It showed that the big six energy firms were making up to 24 percent profit on standard tariffs, according to the Sun newspaper. For some, that’s over seven times bigger than the profits they claim to be making. The big six are British Gas, E-on, EDF, SSE, Scottish Power and NPower.
United Kingdom: Age UK criticised over E.ON partnership
Miles Brignall | The Guardian | April 19, 2016
In February both organisations found themselves at the centre of a media storm, after the Sun claimed Age UK’s Enterprises division was overcharging customers who signed up to a special E.ON/Age Concern gas and electricity tariff marketed to older customers. About 150,000 customers were overpaying to the tune of £240 a year, the paper claimed at the time, while E.ON has paid the charity a £6m commission.
French energy union pulls out of talks with E.ON over power plant closures
Robin Sayles | S&P Global | June 26, 2013
French energy and mining union FNME has walked away from talks with E.ON France over its plans to close coal-fired power plants until further clarity is given on the newly appointed dispute mediator, FNME said late Tuesday.
Germany: Gasag owners under suspicion of cartel behavior: Have GDF and Eon engaged in price-fixing?
Kevin P. Hoffmann | Tagesspiegel | April 1, 2012
It is about possible illegal market and price agreements by the major shareholders and suppliers Eon and Gaz de France (GDF) at the expense of Gasag and their almost 700,000 customers in Berlin and Brandenburg.
United Kingdom: E.ON overhauls its ‘unfair’ billing policy
Mark Atherton | The Times | February 7, 2012
The energy supplier has come under fire from direct debit customers who have suffered large and unexpected increases in their monthly payments. These resulted from a policy of ensuring that all direct debit customers had a zero balance on their account by springtime, when an annual review of how much they should pay takes place.
Germany: Protest against job cuts: Thousands are protesting in front of Eon's headquarters
Rheinische Post | June 18, 2009
Several thousand people demonstrated in front of the headquarters of the energy company Eon in Düsseldorf on Thursday. They want to prevent a possible downsizing at the company.
Financials
Political Influence
Open Secrets - Tracks corporate lobbying of US politicians.
OpenSecrets.org Profile of E.ON
Germany: Who at the CDU/CSU is preventing climate action? Hardliners, defectors, lobbyists
Nick Reimer | TAZ | June 11, 2023
Katherina Reiche... played a key role in shaping climate policy as parliamentary state secretary from 2009 to 2015, in the Ministry of the Environment until 2013 and in the Ministry of Transport until 2015... Today she is a manager at the former coal company Eon, where she heads the wholly owned subsidiary "Westenergie" with almost 10,000 employees.
Germany: New study: LobbyControl warns of the continued influence of the gas industry
Christine Dankbar | Berliner Zeitung | February 15, 2023
The companies Eon, Uniper, EnBW, RWE and Wintershall DEA alone spent more than 12 million euros.
EU Commission under fire for meetings with energy companies
David Yip | The Parliament Magazine | November 5, 2015
According to their data, BP and E.ON had the most encounters of any company with the commissioners.
Industry lobbyists weakened Europe's air pollution rules, say Greenpeace
Arthur Neslen & Rob Evans | The Guardian | March 15, 2015
Five out of the UK’s nine-strong delegation in Brussels work for companies that are responsible for large-scale emissions, including coal power plant operators RWE, EDF and E.ON.
United Kingdom: E.ON lobbied for stiff sentences against Kingsnorth activists, papers show
James Ball | The Guardian | February 19, 2013
The UK chief executive of energy giant E.ON repeatedly lobbied the then-energy secretary Ed Miliband and others over the sentencing of activists disrupting the company's power plants, warning that any failure to issue "dissuasive" sentences could "impact" upon investment decisions in the UK.
Germany: The nuclear lobby is irradiating the federal government
German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) | September 12, 2010
E.ON and other companies had offered the government 30 billion euros for a fund to prevent the nuclear tax.
United Kingdom: Coal giant dictates government climate policy
Greenpeace | January 31, 2008
We’ve got our mitts on some government documents which show how a single angry email from E.on destroyed a central pillar of the government’s energy policy in just a few minutes.
& Evasion
United Kingdom: Revealed: E.ON tried to get Kwarteng to cut its taxes while bills soared
Martin Williams | Open Democracy | October 11, 2022
E.ON complained to Conservative ministers about the capping of energy bills, saying it had made the UK an “unattractive place to be an energy supplier”. Energy bills were expected to top £4,000 in 2023 at the time of E.ON’s warnings.
Germany: How E.ON is creating tax holes worth millions
Benedikt Strunz | Norddeutscher Rundfunk | November 6, 2014
In the documents, which are addressed directly to the Luxembourg tax authorities, economic consultants from Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) are designing a financial system that could hardly be more intricate. With its help, E.ON SE from Düsseldorf is said to be saving tens of millions of euros in taxes in Great Britain, the USA, Sweden, Germany and last but not least in Luxembourg.
Germany: Electricity company Eon does not want to pay trade tax
Die Welt | July 3, 2001
Shock for the Bavarian communities: The electricity company Eon has announced that it will not be paying any trade taxes anywhere in Germany for the past year and probably also for 2001.
EU court hears lawsuit against E.ON-RWE deal
Agentur für Erneuerbare Energien | June 15, 2022
The General Court of the European Union has scheduled three hearing days for lawsuits against the E.ON-RWE deal for June 15-17. In May 2020, eleven energy suppliers filed actions for annulment against the EU Commission's approval of the deal.
Azerbaijan: The pipeline that would fuel a dictator
Emma Hughes | Red Pepper | September 16, 2013
Companies and decision-makers in London and Brussels are eagerly eyeing these wells and are currently assembling the agreements and finance for a mega‑pipeline from the Caspian to central Europe.
Italy: The No Tap Committee reiterates: "Useless and devastating work"
LeccePrima | September 10, 2013
A press release was already issued in the morning: "Tap forgets that the stakeholders are the fishermen and operators of San Foca, Melendugno and Vernole, not the luxury hotels of Lecce".
Chile's Supreme Court rejects MPX and E.ON thermal energy project
Central Única dos Trabalhadores | August 28, 2012
Chile's Supreme Court has rejected the controversial $5 billion Central Castilla thermoelectric project, a joint venture between billionaire Eike Batista's MPX Energia (MPXE3) and the German company E.ON, a court source told Reuters this Tuesday (28).
United Kingdom: Energy giant spends £32m on football sponsorship - but just £4.4m on helping elderly customers
Evening Standard | April 12, 2012
An energy watchdog today accused power company E.On of an "own goal" over its decision to spend more sponsoring the FA Cup than helping vulnerable customers heat their homes.
United Kingdom: Ed, E.ON and everyone?
Global Justice Now | September 1, 2009
E.ON is launching “a nationwide drive to help homeowners and small businesses cut their energy use by 10% by the end of 2010”, rather than doing anything themselves to cut the gargantuan emissions spewing forth from their dinosaur coal power plants at Ratcliffe in Nottinghamshire and Kingsnorth in Kent.
Procurement
CorpWatch is still gathering procurement data on E.ON at this time.