Performance Report 2005
Introduction
Vincent de Rivaz, Chief Executive
During 2005, EDF Energy delivered strongly against our ambitions, creating value for all of our key stakeholders, despite operating in a context of highly volatile energymarkets. We delivered robust financial growth, with a 4% increase inunderlying net income and a 19% increase in turnover.
This was particularly important in a year in which our parent company, EDF, took the historic step of floating 15% of its share capital on the stockmarket. We grew our customer base through the year, despite being forced to increase our tariffs due to rising energy costs. We achieved this by focusing on improving our levels of customer service and protecting our vulnerable customers through a range of mechanisms including the sector-leading social tariff, our EDF Energy Trust and massive investment in home energy efficiency improvements.
Addressing the climate change challenge, we made a detailed submission to the Government energy policy review in which we propose how the electricity sector can play its part. During the year we also invested an additional £2 million in marine tidal energy technology. Internally, we rolled out our leadership development programme and redoubled our commitment top rioritising the safety of all our employees. Importantly, we also introduced a decision making tool across the company which ensures that all significant investment decisions are now formally weighed against our five Ambitions, helping us tobe mindful of balancing our varied responsibilities aswe develop our business.
2006 will be a key year for our industry. On the back of the policy direction set by the Government statement on the Energy Review we are now focussed on working with the Government to finalise the detail required to trigger investment in low carbon generation alongside greater energy efficiency activity. Alongside this we will continue working on making it easier for our customers to minimise their electricity costs, helping them to understand and reduce their energy use, and supporting vulnerable customers with grants, advice and special tariffs. We will only succeed in demonstrating leadership in these vital areas with the engagement and expertise of all of our employees.
In producing this report we made the bold decision to engage a stakeholder advisory panel to provide their views on whether it addresses the most important issues which they think a company like EDF Energy should report on. We deliberately chose the stakeholders to ensure that we would receive a firm challenge in the areas on which we need to do better. Our commitment to the panel was to publish their statement unedited, which we have done on the back of this report. The panel has not let us down and their statement lays out the key challenges we now face with a particular focus on what are doing to tackle climate change through reduced CO2 emissions. As a company we acknowledge their challenge and welcome it. More importantly we are committed to rising to it. In our report to be published next year we will provide an update of our progress against this challenge and the others put to us by the panel. I would like to thank the panel for their participation in this process which has been a worthwhile first step in this kind of engagement.
If we are to meet our ambitions, everyone across EDF Energy must work together to realise their own potential and do whatever they can to improve the performance of the company. We call this the ‘e’ factor. It encourages us to improve leadership, behaviours, processes, and whatever else we have to do, to get there. The first phase of the strategy to bring this to reality began in mid-2004, with the delivery of 'e' factor workshops across the Company.
Since piloting work in May 2004 about 9.100 people have attended an 'e' factor workshop across the Company. Nearly one hundred trained ‘e’ factor facilitators are engaged within the branches in delivering this work. All Branches have achieved a number of outstanding outcomes and actions from their workshop programme and have identified some clear activities and work-streams for taking 'e' factor forward within their Branches.
An 'e' factor Conference was held in September 2005 to celebrate the first anniversary of 'e' factor. The overwhelming balance of the feedback from participants was that the eventwas a tremendous success, which was energising and invigorating for all who attended.
As well as Branch specific activities there are a number of centrally-driven activities which will support the continued momentum of 'e' factor during 2006.
EDF Energy plc Annual Report and Financial Statement 31 December 2005 [PDF]