The Telegraph

19 April 2010

Green energy firm gives free shares to reward customers

A block of free shares is being offered to customers by a renewable energy company to encourage them to "go green".

Green Energy UK is handing out 400 shares to business as well as domestic customers to spread the green message. So far 10,000 have taken up the offer.

Douglas Stewart, former car dealer and company founder, was told he was mad when he informed advisers he wanted to give away half his company, offering shares to the first 100,000 customers. He said: "This might sound extreme but I wanted to reward consumers who took active steps to be greener."

The shares cannot be traded at present but Mr Stewart says the initiative "promotes customer loyalty and also makes us totally accountable to each and every customer." He hopes in the next few years to "create a mechanism to create value for our customer shareholders."

He started the company nine years ago with £50,000 after becoming fascinated with "clean energy" and last year turnover topped the £5m mark in a market where the number of renewable businesses is growing rapidly despite the price gap with conventional supplies.

Green Energy offers two tariffs, Deep Green based on 100pc renewable sources, and combined heat and power-fuelled Pale Green which is price competitive with conventionally sourced energy.