Small Business Honored For First Sale Via Tablet Technology

Cincinnati, OH (03/28/2012) - Frank Milillo is always looking for ways to save his small business money. He is President of Intralink, Inc, a software development company based in Cincinnati, and he is well aware that in order for his small business to succeed in today's economy, he has to make every dollar count. When it came to shopping for energy, Milillo admitted, "Saving money is important, of course, but we did not have time to look into it." So when Sarah Egbers of Direct Energy Small Business dropped by his business with her iPad in hand, prepared to show him-in real time-how he can get better bang for his energy buck, he was ready to listen.

Intralink, Inc. develops customized applications for businesses across North America. A day in the life of these business professionals is nothing short of busy so time is not a commodity Milillo gives or takes lightly. "She [Egbers] just showed up with her iPad in her arms. We have a small office so when she walked in, she was noticed. She was able to walk us through and explain the charges on our energy bills and show us on her iPad the benefits of planning our energy expenses verses being surprised on what the next bill will be."

Direct Energy Small Business launched sales via iPad tablets on March 20th, 2012 in the Cincinnati market. "We are addressing the "time-starved" needs of our small business customer segment by using technology to improve the speed and customer experience of the sale," says Doug Heinrich, Head of Small Business Sales at Direct Energy.

On March 22nd, Milillo became the first official customer to sign up with Direct Energy via the I-Pad tablet. In fact, Intralink signed up to buy both natural gas and electricity from Direct Energy, giving the Intralink competitive rates and price certainty for both fuels. To celebrate this milestone event, Direct Energy will present Milillo with a personal iPad as a token of gratitude for becoming a Direct Energy customer and symbol of appreciation for becoming their first iPad enrolled client!

More than six million homes and businesses across North America choose Direct Energy for electricity, natural gas and energy-related services. The process that followed from initial sales call or visit to contract pricing, processing, verification, and signing has been streamlined as Direct Energy introduced the competence and confidence of iPad technology through their field sales channel for energy enrollment. Within 15 minutes, Milillo was able to secure for Intralink, Inc. the best competitive rates on energy. Milillo noted that enrolling for energy service via the tablet was, "definitely more impactful than throwing a bunch of paperwork at me and letting me sift through to sign here, dot there - it was a lot smoother."

About Direct Energy

Direct Energy is one of North America's largest energy and energy-related services providers with more than 6 million residential and commercial customer relationships. Direct Energy provides customers with choice and support in managing their energy costs through a portfolio of innovative products and services. A subsidiary of Centrica plc (LSE:CNA), one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, Direct Energy operates in 46 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and 10 provinces in Canada.

For further information, please contact:

Camille Harris
Direct Energy
1-412-667-5207
Camille.Harris@directenergy.com

Direct Energy® is a subsidiary of Centrica plc. All rights reserved. Centrica was created following the demerger of British Gas plc in 1997 and is now a leading supplier of energy and related services. To read more about Centrica plc please visit www.centrica.com.