Shell powers into UK retail market in bid to become biggest energy firm
The move will put more pressure on the UK power market, which has seen many customers abandon traditional utilities for smaller, cheaper suppliers
London — Royal Dutch Shell took a step forward in its aim to become the world’s biggest power company, with an aggressive move into the UK retail market, offering one of the cheapest tariffs available. Shell Energy, formerly known as First Utility, said on Monday it had a fixed rate power-supply tariff for UK customers of about £970 a year, or about £81 pounds a month until July 2020. The move is part of its rebranding of its UK utility business. This undercuts former cheapest UK power supplier Bulb Energy, which has a deal available for £981 pounds a year, and is about 18% cheaper than power supplied by Centrica-owned British Gas, according to data from UK power regulator Ofgem. Shell plans to become the world’s biggest power company within 15 years and is spending as much as $2bn a year on its new-energies division, a move that suggests it sees climate change as a significant threat to the fossil fuel business. “Shell has been increasingly vociferous about its ambitions in electri...
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