Direct Energy Leads Retail Electricity Presence in Social Media

Houston (April 17, 2014) - Direct Energy's social media presence is soaring to new heights, launching two new, first-of-its-kind Facebook apps for Bounce Energy customers to sign up, interact, view and maintain their account through Facebook. These apps are new, innovative and fundamentally different than anything offered by competitors. In addition, with just under 173,000 likes as of today, Direct Energy is the most popular retail electricity provider on Facebook in North America.

"Our customers are now at the forefront of social media and utility account access. With one click, they login to the Bounce Energy MyAccount or explore BounceEnergy.com without ever having to leave Facebook,? said Robbie Wright, Direct Energy Vice President of Digital and Innovation. "These new apps propel Bounce Energy, and soon our other subsidiary brands, leaps and bounds ahead of our competitors."

Through two apps, the MyAccount experience and an edited version of BounceEnergy.com, customers are able to access their account login page directly from the Bounce Energy Facebook page www.facebook.com/bounceenergy or sign up for service.

Having access to MyAccount within Facebook means that Bounce Energy customers can now pay bills, check rewards status, transfer/renew service, add products, refer friends, and all of the other great features the MyAccount experience offers. Customers can ask questions and refer to their account for answers without having to head back to the website. They can be chatting with a customer service representative on Facebook and viewing their account quickly and easily in the same platform.

Within the edited version of BounceEnergy.com, potential customers can sign up for new service, learn about Bounce Energy rewards programs, access customer support, login to their MyAccount and more. Just like the regular BounceEnergy.com experience, pages within the Facebook site are geo-mapped so people in Texas, Pennsylvania, or New York who are looking at rates or rewards programs will see the rates and rewards programs for that state. This allows potential customers to explore and learn about Bounce Energy without leaving Facebook, making the customer experience seamless and convenient.

When the Bounce Energy MyAccount was constructed, it was made to be modular and adaptive and to include additional capabilities by having an adaptive construction. This allows MyAccount to be easily adapted into new contexts, like a Facebook application, with relatively minor code adjustments and new rule construction. These capabilities are programmed into the platform, making it so that MyAccount can move in ways other companies cannot if they purchased or outsourced off-the-shelf systems.

Direct Energy plans to move its different brands in this same direction, adding the MyAccount feature to their Facebook pages. The option of connecting a customer's Facebook login to their MyAccount login, creating an automatic and more seamless login process, is also being explored.

Direct Energy continues to be an industry leader and widen the gap as the most liked family of electricity brands in comparison to competitors in the online business social sphere. The following outlines the number of FB likes and Twitter followers for four of Direct Energy's brands:

• Direct Energy FB 177,172/ Twitter 10,043
• Bounce Energy FB 160,366/ Twitter 26,423
• New Leaf FB 41,917/ Twitter 5,948
• First Choice Power FB 7,648/ Twitter 1,880
• Direct Energy Canada FB 11,837

For further information, please contact:
Jessica Michan
Direct Energy
713-904-7488