Opus Energy: ownership changes, who to contact and how to complain

Opus Energy is a name many small businesses, especially pubs and shops, remember. Its ownership has shifted, so the first job is to find out which company now holds your contract. Biz Energy is not affiliated with Opus Energy, Drax or EDF.

A short history

Opus Energy was set up in the early 2000s as a supplier to businesses. Drax Group agreed to buy it in December 2016, and the deal completed in early 2017. Over the next seven years parts of Opus were folded into Drax's business supply operations.

The 2024 sale to EDF

In late June 2024, after a strategic review, Drax announced it would sell most of Opus's small-and-medium-business customer book, up to about 90,000 meter points, to EDF Energy Customers. EDF's own customer page says the transferred customers joined EDF in September 2024. Direct Debits and balances moved across from late September, and EDF began collecting Direct Debits in October. According to EDF, customers on fixed tariffs kept their prices and terms until their contracts ended, while variable and out-of-contract customers moved to the nearest EDF equivalent at EDF's prices. Drax said its remaining Energy Solutions business, which serves larger customers, was unaffected. If you were an Opus SME customer, your supplier is now most likely EDF, but check the name on your latest bill.

If you received a letter about the transfer, keep it. It is your record of the date you moved and the terms that carried over.

How to find out who your supplier is

1. Look at the top and bottom of your latest bill for the legal company name.
2. Check where you send payment and the name on the direct debit.
3. If still unclear, ask your gas transporter or electricity network operator, or use the industry supplier look-up services.
4. Check your MPAN or MPRN; the supplier is recorded against the meter point.

Contacting the right company

For transferred Opus accounts, EDF's page on welcoming Opus customers gives the email address hellobusiness@edfenergy.com for queries after the move; check EDF's page for former Opus customers for current routes. For larger customers who stayed with Drax, use the official Drax complaints page. For general EDF accounts, see our EDF business guide.

How Drax describes its complaints steps

For its own business customers Drax says customer service has one working day to resolve a complaint, after which a care team updates you every ten working days; you can then ask a senior person to review (answer within five working days); and if unresolved after eight weeks, or at deadlock, you may approach the Energy Ombudsman. Eligible businesses have under 50 employees and turnover up to £6.5m, or use up to 200,000 kWh of electricity a year, and you have up to 12 months from the deadlock letter. If your account is now with EDF, follow EDF's complaints process instead.

Worked example: a pub deciding at renewal

A pub uses 45,000 kWh of electricity. Its current rate is 29p/kWh with 75p/day; a competing quote is 26.5p with 90p/day. Current: 45,000 x 0.29 = £13,050 + (365 x 0.75 = £273.75) = £13,323.75. Alternative: 45,000 x 0.265 = £11,925 + (365 x 0.90 = £328.50) = £12,253.50. Difference £1,070.25 before CCL and VAT; CCL is the same for both. Our pub energy guide looks at trade patterns.

Switching and notice

Business contracts have no cooling-off period. Once out of contract there is no exit fee, and microbusinesses cannot be required to give notice, apart from evergreen contracts (up to 30 days). Learn about rollovers and the switching steps.

What to do if you receive a transfer letter or a surprise bill

A letter says your account has moved

Check three items: the new company's name, whether your fixed price and end date are unchanged, and how your direct debit will be handled. If anything is missing, ask in writing for the contract documents. Check the new supplier's terms carefully, and remember that rollover rules still limit what a supplier can do at the end of a fixed term.

A rollover appears

Microbusiness fixed terms can only roll over for up to 12 months and only if the supplier sent the required renewal information. Check your paperwork, and see how to stop a contract rolling over.

Credit balance after a transfer

If you were in credit, ask in writing how the balance has been carried across and request a statement. For refunds, see how to get a credit balance refund.

Back-billing

For microbusinesses the supplier is barred from billing for energy supplied more than 12 months earlier, with exceptions for theft, tampering or obstructing readings. Small businesses above microbusiness level do not get this protection by default. See how far back a supplier can back-bill.

A fixed deal that ends soon after the transfer

If your Opus fixed term ended after you moved to EDF, the end-of-contract rules apply to EDF as your supplier. For a microbusiness, that means a rollover is only possible if EDF sent the required renewal information, and it cannot exceed 12 months. Compare EDF's renewal offer with at least one other quote before you accept.

Why pubs and shops felt it most

Hospitality and retail sites tend to be small, many-metered, and sold by phone, which is where brokers and rollovers cause most trouble. If a contract was arranged by a broker, read what to do if a broker mis-sold your contract.

A checklist for former Opus customers

• Find a bill from before September 2024 and one from after, and compare the unit rate and standing charge. If you were on a fixed tariff, they should match until the original end date.
• Confirm the end date of your fixed term with EDF in writing, and diary it.
• If you were variable or out of contract at the transfer, you moved to EDF's equivalent rates. Ask for quotes now, because you can leave without an exit fee.
• Check your Direct Debit is going to EDF and that any old Opus mandate has stopped.
• If you had a credit balance with Opus, check it appears on your EDF account.

Next steps

• Establish your supplier's legal name.
• Find your end date and renewal window.
• Compare quotes with the arithmetic above.
• If unhappy, complain to that supplier, then the Energy Ombudsman.