EDF offers fresh support to over 15,000 small and medium businesses impacted by energy crisis

• Independent shops, hairdressers, small factories and other small businesses worst impacted by fixing prices at height of energy crisis to be offered cheaper deals
• Calls from struggling small and medium businesses increased 25% in April compared to last year. EDF doubles number of customer advisors to support.
• Eligible customers to be contacted in coming weeks

EDF has launched new support for its small and medium business customers who were worst impacted by fixing contracts during the peak of the energy crisis.

The energy supplier has identified more than 15,000 small and medium business customers that it will contact to offer new contracts on lower prices that cover a longer period, to help reduce costs for businesses now.

This comes at a time when EDF has seen contact from struggling SME business customers increase by 25%. To provide additional support for its customers, EDF is almost doubling the number of SME business customer advisors.

The eligible customers, ranging from independent shops, hairdressers and small factories, are identified as being especially exposed to the impacts of the energy crisis due to a combination of having high fixed prices and being high energy users.

When global wholesale energy prices rose significantly last year, fixed contract prices rose and EDF bought the volume of energy required for the contracts sold during this period at these high prices.

Since then, wholesale market prices have eased and the price of fixed products in the market have reduced. However, EDF bought and sold the energy for these products when prices were high, so both EDF and the businesses that chose to sign onto a contract last winter continue to be tied to those higher prices.

Government support via the Energy Bill Relief Scheme supported customers through winter, but this scheme ended in March, with the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme offering a lower rate of support.

Philippe Commaret, Managing Director of Customers at EDF, said:"Whilst we aren't able to rewrite all contracts, we recognise that some businesses were especially impacted, and we are doing what we can to help.

"We have also doubled the number of customer service advisors working to help SME businesses after seeing a significant increase in customers contacting us.

"For those who aren't eligible for this scheme, we're continuing to install smart meters, to help identify energy waste and permanently lower bills, as well as tailored support for those in payment difficulty through our CARE+ framework."

This support comes after EDF already reached out to several thousand large business customers to offer them the opportunity to extend their contracts and blend higher existing contract rates with new extended lower rates, helping to reduce their bills in the shorter term.

SME business customers don't need to get in contact with EDF - the supplier will be contacting eligible customers by phone, post and email in the coming weeks to outline the support available.

ENDS

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About EDF

EDF is helping Britain achieve Net Zeroby leading the transition to a cleaner, low emission, electric future and tackling climate change. It is the UK's largest producer of low-carbon electricity(1)and supplies millions of customers with electricity and gas.

It generates low carbon electricity from five nuclear power stationsand more than thirty onshore wind farms and two offshore wind farms.

EDF is leading the UK's nuclear renaissance with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C, and there are advanced plans for a replica at Sizewell Cin Suffolk. Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C will provide low carbon electricity to meet 14% of UK demand and power around 12 million homes.

EDF is one of the UK's largest investors in renewables, with more than 1GW of renewable generation in operation and over 4GW in construction, planning and development across a range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery storage. We are constructing our largest offshore wind farm in Britain - the 450 MW Neart na Gaoitheproject in Scotland.

EDF is helping its customers, both in business and at home, take their first steps to sustainably powering their lives. Whether it is buying an electric car, generating and storing electricity, selling energy back to the grid or installing a heat pump. EDF is one of the largest suppliers to British businessand a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions that are helping businesses become more energy independent. In addition, the company's energy services business, Imtech, is one of the largest technical service providers in the UK and Ireland.

EDF is part of EDF Group, the world's biggest electricity generator. In the UK, the company employs around 11,000 people at locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

EDF are a leading provider of battery optimisation and trading services in the UK, delivering market leading performance by leveraging the latest in AI optimisation technology and in-house battery trading expertise. EDF has currently contracted more than 900MW of battery storage in Great Britain

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