EDF a leading supplier with high tariffs (EDF Energy)

Member Name: chrisc92

Product:	EDF Energy
Date:	25/07/09 (56 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: They supply electricity and gas

Disadvantages: Expensive

Électricité de France (EDF) is the main electricity generation and distribution company in France. It was founded on April 8, 1946, as a result of the nationalisation of a number of electricity producers, transporters and distributors by the minister of industrial production Marcel Paul. Until November 19, 2004, it was a government corporation, but it is now a limited-liability corporation under private law (société anonyme). The French government partially floated shares of the company on the Paris Stock Exchange in November 2005,[3] although it retains almost 85% ownership as of the end of 2008.[4]

EDF held a monopoly in the distribution, but not the production, of electricity in France until 1999, when the first European Commission directive to harmonize regulation of electricity markets was implemented.

EDF is one of the world's largest producers of electricity. In 2003, it produced 22% of the European Union's electricity, primarily from nuclear power:

nuclear: 74.5%
hydro-electric: 16.2%
thermal: 9.2%
wind power and other renewable sources: 0.1%
Its 58 active nuclear reactors (in 2004) are spread out over 20 sites (nuclear power plants). They comprise 34 reactors of 900 MWe, 20 reactors of 1.3 GWe, and 4 reactors of 1450 MWe, all PWRs.

On 24 September 2008 EDF announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Lake Acquisitions, had made a recommended offer for the shares of British Energy Group PLC, which generates about 20 percent of British electricity, mainly from 8 nuclear stations.

The above was taken from the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lectricit%C3%A 9_de_France

What does it mean to me though, well EDF took over one of the largest suppliers in the SouthWest - SWEB (South Western Electricity Board) and they still have a payment processing centre in Plymouth.

Yet until August 2008 I knew very little about them until my partner and I moved to a very small and modest 2 bed flat that had economy 7 and storage heaters. It's true that the flat had a power shower and that all our supply was electric, but to suggest that in 5 months we had spent over £900 is a joke.

I know I've written about Scottish Power that were the suppliers when we moved in to our new home, but even they were no where near as expensive, and our current suppliers British Gas out do both.

With EDF we managed our account online, and payments were made quite often without charge using my credit card which was a bonus. However, EDF never seemed to understand our account and despite 4 meter readings not once did they actually use them in producing our bills.

It is a service that we have to pay for as part of daily life but not one of the suppliers is genuine and offers realistic pricing despite a number of cuts in oil prices. In fact in reality since the industry was opened to competition we have really paid for it.

Yes EDF need to make a profit but I found them extremely expensive, but I did find their customer service and online website helpful. I can't rate them above 3*.

Summary: They are not at the top of my list of suppliers, nor are they bottom