Direct Energy Enthusiastic About Opportunity To Further Expand

Pittsburgh, PA (March 21, 2013) - Direct Energy participated in a pilot program in the Arizona Public Service (APS) Company utility territory, which includes central and northern Phoenix, that allowed a limited number of business customers to switch to a competitive electricity supplier. Direct Energy is enthusiastic about the possible opportunity to expand competitive energy pricing to other Arizona customers in the future, including residential customers. Competitive markets provide many benefits to consumers including more competitive energy prices, budget flexibility for customers and the development of innovative products and services. Through a lottery program, APS qualified 12 businesses for an opportunity to arrange for an alternative source of generation in lieu of their standard bundled generation service. The pilot was available to APS standard offer customers with a single electric service account or aggregated service accounts with a peak load of 10 MW to 200 MW.

"Although this is a great win for Arizona, Direct Energy is excited about the potential to expand competitive retail energy options in the state," said Mike Senff, vice president of sales and marketing for Direct Energy Business. "We are happy we had the opportunity to be on the ground floor during the pilot program with hopes of working in Arizona to allow more customers to be able to enjoy the benefits of competitive supply."

Steven Murray, president of Direct Energy Residential, adds "We have a tremendous opportunity to advance the Arizona market to one where we ultimately will also be able to serve the residents in the state."

Senff and Murray are available for interviews.

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:
Micah Hirschfield
Direct Energy
1-281-908-6597
Micah.Hirschfield@directenergy.com