E.ON Next and Kraken has announced the launch of flexible demand management for more than 5 million E.ON energy customers in the UK.
The partnership will see Kraken – an end-to-end platform for utilities’ digitalisation and transformation – cut bills for E.ON Next customers in the UK with the Residential Flex offer, through the delivery of advanced machine learning.
Customers can charge their cars and heat their homes at the “cleanest, most affordable times”, according to the companies, with full automation by Kraken to maximise savings and sustainability.
Kraken’s smart demand management is already assisting more than 200,000 British EV drivers with savings compared to standard charging rates. It uses AI to optimise and automate the energy usage of low-carbon technologies – EVs, heat pumps, solar panels, home batteries and smart thermostats – while continuously monitoring the grid.
This saves customers money and also helps balance supply and demand, reducing costs across the entire energy system, the firm added.
The new partnership follows E.ON Next’s successful migration onto Kraken’s CRM and billing platform in 2020. Some 7.9 million meter points were moved onto Kraken across two years, replacing 17 legacy IT systems.
Since deploying Kraken, E.ON has improved its Trustpilot score to 4.5, and in the year of migration moved from £200m losses to £100m operating profit.
E.ON Next and Kraken are also two founding members of the Mercury Consortium, a public-private initiative set up with the goal of establishing a “Bluetooth for energy” – setting a common framework for the integration of low-carbon technology into the grid.
Chris Norbury, CEO of E.ON UK, said:
“Clean energy isn’t a dream for the future; it’s something we can capture now through innovative solutions and technologies that give customers better control of their energy, make bills more affordable, and build a platform for growth.
“The introduction of the Residential Flex platform for E.ON Next customers shows that we are leading the way in delivering clean, low-cost energy solutions without compromise. By leveraging AI to optimise energy consumption, we are helping our customers save on their energy bills while driving the UK’s transition to a net-zero future.”
Amir Orad, CEO of Kraken, said:
“E.ON Next is taking a key step, together with Kraken, and delivering the smart energy system the UK needs.
“The old ways just won’t cut it – sticking to the status quo won’t drive the energy transition, and the cost of simply throwing money at transmission infrastructure would be sky-high. It’s time for a rethink on how we consume energy – a smarter, more efficient grid will power a secure, abundant energy future.”
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