Who's behind new best buy energy company Extra Energy?

This small company keeps undercutting the rest of the market.

Extra Energy ended 2014 on top of the best buy table for gas and electricity. And not for the first time.

Last year it repeatedly took on the 'Big Six' energy companies: British Gas, npower, E.ON, Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern, and EDF.

But just who is behind Extra Energy?

The Extra Group

Extra Energy is part of the Extra Group, a privately owned company based in Germany. It has various business interests including telecoms, mobiles, travel and insurance.

Its energy division operates under six different brand names – the best known is Extra Energie which has been supplying about two million German homes and businesses with energy since 2009. It also has energy brands in Austria and the Netherlands.

Extra Energie is the largest private energy company operating in the German market and also provides a white label service to third party retailers such as supermarkets, in the same way that British Gas offers a white label service to Sainsbury’s Energy here in the UK.

The Extra Energy brand launched in the UK in April 2014. Since then it’s acquired more than 220,000 customers.

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The website blurb

Extra Energy describes itself as a new energy supplier with “a fresh attitude towards energy”.

Its stated mission is “to generate outstanding cost savings which we gladly pass onto our customers”.

It says it does this by running a “highly efficient and lean organisation” and keeping operational costs low. It doesn’t advertise, for example.

Extra Energy also boasts UK-based customer contact centres and says its bills and documents are easy to understand.

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Why are people switching to Extra Energy?

Well, it’s cheap for starters. Extra Energy repeatedly topped the best buy tables during 2014 – and it’s kicked off 2015 with the launch of some new cheap tariffs.

However, Extra Energy has also come along at a time of increasing dissatisfaction with the Big Six energy suppliers. Not only are the big players more expensive than smaller competitors, but their customer service and billing often leaves a lot to be desired too.

Extra Energy tariffs

Extra Energy ended 2014 by launching what it claimed were the cheapest energy tariffs on offer during 2014.

To get the cheap deals, customers must be willing to manage their account online, including supplying meter readings.

Here's how its new tariffs shape up.

Source: lovemoney.com gas & electricity comparison centre. Prices based on average consumption as measured by Ofgem of 13,500kWh of gas and 3,200 kWh of electricity

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