the renewable energy subsidiary of rwe see innogy . rwe npower plc trading as npower type public limited company industry energy founded 2000 as innogy plc 2002 as rwe npower headquarters swindon england uk key people paul coffey ceo products gas and electricity number of employees 11 501 parent rwe website www.npower.com rwe npower plc trading as npower is a uk based electricity generator and supplier of gas and electricity to homes and businesses formerly known as innogy plc. as innogy plc it was listed on the london stock exchange and was a constituent of the ftse 100 index . in 2002 it was acquired by rwe of germany and was subsequently renamed rwe npower plc. it is considered as one of the big six energy suppliers which dominate the gas and electricity market in the united kingdom . contents 1 history 2 criticism 3 operations 4 carbon intensity of electricity production 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the company was established as innogy plc from the uk operations of national power when the overseas operations were demerged as international power plc in 2000 . 1 innogy plc then went on to purchase the regional electricity company yorkshire electricity in 2001 . 2 it later disposed of the distribution side of yorkshire electricity to ce electric uk in exchange for the supply business of northern electric . 3 innogy plc was taken over by the german energy company rwe in 2002 and renamed rwe npower plc with all the supply business adopting the npower brand . 4 in february 2006 npower acquired 19 % of telecom plus a business which now provides npower with management services such as billing customer service metering debt collection and administration under the deal npower can increase its stake in telecom plus up to 29 % . 5 in 2009 npower acquired superior plumbing a business providing services to social housing and business customers across the uk . 6 in 2013 however npower sold the two former telecom plus subsidiaries back to utility warehouse for 218 million . 7 as a result utility warehouse became one of the largest independent energy suppliers in the uk 7 with over 500 000 customers and 770 000 gas and electricity supply points to their name . 8 the deal also sparked commentary about the possibility of npower s parent company rwe leaving the uk or the emergence of a big seven in place of the existing big six energy suppliers . 9 in march 2016 the company announced losses of 106 million and 2 500 global job cuts 10 along with the fact that they had lost 351 000 customers in 2015 a high level of customer complaints were cited as reasons for the issues . 11 criticism edit in 2008 npower faced allegations over the conduct of its door to door salespeople . 12 an undercover investigation by a uk newspaper resulted in allegations of npower salespeople misleading potential customers with suggestions that salespeople were routinely lying and asking potential customers to sign a form without revealing it was a contract . 13 npower was eventually fined 1.8 million by the uk energy regulator ofgem . 14 npower have also been criticised for their customer service having been rated the lowest of all energy suppliers in the which switch 2010 customer satisfaction survey . 15 in 2010 npower acquired spi group to add to its energy services business npower hometeam . spi provides services to the social housing market and its commercial arm serves public buildings including schools . 16 in 2013 labour party mps and campaign group 38 degrees accused npower of avoiding tax . npower defended itself by stating that tax paid had been lower than expected due to higher than expected capital investment in the uk leading to capital allowances . a bloomberg report for greenpeace confirmed that rwe npower was the biggest investor in new energy infrastructure in the uk recently . 17 however groups such as 38 degrees called for customers to boycott or switch over to other providers . 18 19 20 in june 2014 npower s call centre in fenton closed resulting in a loss of 480 jobs following the announcement of the closure the previous december . 21 in december 2015 the company was ordered to pay a 26m settlement by the energy regulator ofgem for failing to treat customers fairly the second such fine ofgem has had imposed on it . 22 operations edit npower operates a number of coal natural gas oil fired and renewable energy power stations across the uk with coal and gas accounting for 81 % of their output as of 2005 . 23 npower supplies gas and electricity to residential and business customers in the uk . its energy services business provides servicing such as repairing boilers and central heating systems through its hometeam brand . 24 the company also owns staythorpe power station in nottinghamshire aberthaw power station in south wales pembroke power station in west wales didcot power station in oxfordshire little barford power station in bedfordshire great yarmouth power station in norfolk fawley power station in hampshire tilbury power station in essex and littlebrook power station in kent . carbon intensity of electricity production edit details are as follows 25 year production twh emission gt co2 kg co2 mwh 2002 35 21.5 623 2003 38 27.5 726 2004 34 23.1 681 2005 33 22.7 680 2006 37 24.7 677 2007 34 22 651 2008 38 25 665 2009 27 16.6 622 see also list of european power companies by carbon intensity see also edit energy portal energy policy of the united kingdom energy use and conservation in the united kingdom green electricity in the united kingdom references edit plugging into nat power split the telegraph 21 march 2001 npower firm buys up yorkshire electricity bbc news 22 february 2001 innogy northern in retail swap power engineering international september 2001 rwe is set to buy innogy new york times 18 march 2002 big gas losses force telecom plus to sell digital look 16 february 2006 spi group is bought by npower heating & ventilation 2009 a b chazan guy 20 november 2013 . telecom plus deal to challenge big six uk energy suppliers . financial times . retrieved 7 october 2014 . macalister terry ; jennifer rankin 20 november 2013 . rwe npower supply sale raises fears over uk withdrawal . the guardian . retrieved 6 october 2014 . gosden emily 20 november 2013 . energy challenger telecom plus leaps to big six s defence . the daily telegraph . retrieved 6 october 2014 . allen katie ; bowers simon 2016 03 06 . npower to cut up to 2 500 jobs in uk and overseas . the guardian . issn 0261 3077 . retrieved 2016 04 01 . npower job losses devastating blow . bbc . 8 march 2016 . retrieved 8 march 2016 . npower suspends staff over claims bbc 6 april 2008 exposed energy giant cheats its customers the times 6 april 2008 npower fined over doorstep sales bbc 22 december 2008 customer satisfaction survey results which npower acquires spi group build 4 february 2009 not in citation given npower admits not paying taxes for three years msn.com the big tax turn off 38 degrees rwe npower bloomberg report for greenpeace 550 job losses at npower are grave mistake say unison . hr grapevine . retrieved 29 october 2014 . npower fined record 26m over customer service failures . the telegraph . 18 december 2015 . retrieved 8 march 2016 . rwe gestaltungselement quadrate in corporate broschueren retail supplying the uk at home and work . www.rwe.com . retrieved 30 july 2015 . climate change and electricity external links edit official website npower youtube channel v t e rwe divisions and subsidiaries current amprion elektriciteits produktiemaatschappij zuid nederland essent rwe npower rwe power ag rwe supply & trading cz former american water1 rwe dea thames water1 joint ventures and shareholdings current deutsche gesellschaft zum bau und betrieb von endlagern f r abfallstoffe gesellschaft f r nuklear service 28 % gundremmingen nuclear power plant 75 % innogy 75 % nabucco gas pipeline international gmbh 16.67 % rostock power station 24.6 % urenco group former horizon nuclear power1 places and facilities germany biblis nuclear power plant innogy nordsee 1 garzweiler surface mine gundremmingen nuclear power plant hambach surface mine lingen nuclear power plant mittelplate m lheim k rlich nuclear power plant neurath power station niederaussem power station nordsee ost offshore wind farm rostock power station rwe tower united kingdom aberthaw power stations atlantic array didcot power stations great yarmouth power station greater gabbard wind farm gwynt y m r little barford power station littlebrook power station north hoyle offshore wind farm pembroke power station rhyl flats staythorpe power station tilbury power stations triton knoll proposed wind farm other amercentrale gazela pipeline gj a oilfield nabucco pipeline nakhichevan field people fritz vahrenholt other advanced plant management system 1sold 2decommissioned category commons v t e united kingdom power companies big six suppliers british gas edf energy e.on uk npower sse scottish power distribution companies northern powergrid sp energy networks electricity north west western power distribution scottish and southern energy power distribution uk power networks transmission companies national grid scottish hydro electric transmission sp transmission sgn other suppliers the co operative energy ecotricity esb international extra energy first utility good energy opus energy ovo energy telecom plus total gas & power v t e energy in the united kingdom companies coal anglo american asia energy bhp billiton enrc glencore rio tinto uk coal oil and gas integrated bg group bp royal dutch shell exploration and production afren bhp billiton cairn energy centrica dana petroleum desire petroleum emerald energy enquest essar energy falkland oil and gas hardy oil and gas jkx oil & gas melrose resources ophir energy perenco premier oil regal petroleum rockhopper exploration soco international star energy tullow oil supply greenergy murco petroleum support abbot group amec ensco expro hunting petrofac qserv score group weir group westerngeco1 wood group utilities generation and supply integrated centrica edf energy1 e.on uk1 rwe npower1 scottish power1 sse generation drax group falck renewables horizon nuclear power1 international power vattenfall united kingdom1 vedanta resources supply the co operative energy ecotricity esb international extra energy firmus energy first utility good energy green energy loco2 energy opus energy ovo energy phoenix natural gas telecom plus distribution electricity electricity north west1 northern powergrid1 sp energy networks1 sse power distribution uk power networks1 western power distribution1 gas firmus energy national grid northern gas networks phoenix natural gas sgn wales & west utilities1 transmission electricity national grid2 scottish hydro electric transmission sp energy networks1 gas national grid other aggreko apx group aquamarine power ecogen enserve geothermal engineering hi gen power mark group wavegen companies with headquarters and or registered office in the uk but no applicable energy operations within the country shown in italics 1ultimate parent company is not uk based 2integrated in the united states no generation or supply activities in the uk energy sources coal coal authority coal fired power stations coal mines coal mining regions confederation of uk coal producers greenhouse gas emissions history miners strike national coal board open pit coal mining electricity association of electricity producers britned east west interconnector energy switching services economy 7 economy 10 electricity billing green electricity grid trade master agreement hvdc cross channel hvdc moyle hvdc norway uk isle of man to england interconnector national grid control reserve service new electricity trading arrangements power stations timeline of the electricity supply industry nuclear advanced gas cooled reactor franco british nuclear forum magnox national nuclear laboratory nuclear decommissioning authority nuclear liabilities fund nuclear power stations office for nuclear regulation sellafield united kingdom atomic energy authority oil and gas bbl pipeline dash for gas forties pipeline system fuel protests gas infrastructure greenhouse gas emissions hydrocarbon oil duty oil and gas authority national transmission system natural gas fields natural gas fired power