E.ON Next finalized its purchase of Ovo Energy on Thursday following clearance from Britain’s competition regulator. The transaction creates a significant consolidation in the nation’s energy supply sector, with E.ON Next now controlling approximately 25% of the household energy market, or roughly 13.45 million gas and electricity accounts. The four million households currently supplied by Ovo will transition to E.ON Next’s customer base, though no immediate service changes are expected.
The completed deal positions E.ON Next as Great Britain’s second-largest energy supplier, trailing only Octopus Energy, which holds 26% market share with 14.3 million accounts. British Gas, once the dominant supplier, now ranks third with approximately 23% of the market representing 12.5 million accounts. When including EDF Energy and Scottish Power, these five suppliers will control roughly 90% of Great Britain’s household energy market.
Market observers noted concerns about the long-term implications of declining competition. Tom Goswell from Cornwall Insight cautioned that reduced supplier numbers may diminish household choice and weaken incentives for price competition. However, E.ON UK’s chief executive Chris Norbury countered that the market remains “fiercely competitive” and that the company’s scale would enable it to better serve customers and support system transformation.
The consolidation marks a reversal of efforts begun in 2016 when competition authorities identified weaknesses in market structure, with consumers estimated to be overpaying by £1.4 billion to £1.7 billion annually. Though new entrants like Octopus and Ovo emerged following that investigation, the market subsequently contracted due to supplier failures during the 2021/22 energy crisis and other business exits, including SSE’s sale of household operations to Ovo in 2019.
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