Direct Energy Adds Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs

Houston, TX (January 25, 2015) - Direct Energy®, one of North America's leading energy and energy-related services providers, has hired Jim Steffes as executive vice president for corporate affairs. This newly-created role will oversee corporate government and regulatory affairs, media relations, community relations and corporate responsibility.

Steffes spent nearly a decade with Direct Energy prior to his previous positions as CEO of Circular Energy, an innovative solar and energy solutions firm, and NRG Energy as head of Green Mountain Energy. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the competitive energy industry, serving in various roles including business, operation, regulatory and public affairs functions at several retail energy and wholesale commodity firms.

"We are excited to bring Jim back to Direct Energy in this new capacity," said Badar Khan, president and CEO of Direct Energy. "His extensive business and public affairs experience will be an integral part of continuing the transformation of our external brand, as well as our government and regulatory strategy."

While at Direct Energy, Steffes ran the Texas Residential segment and transformed the trajectory of the business by implementing significant operational improvements, making key acquisitions – including First Choice Power – and launching novel products, including a prepaid electricity plan which leveraged Texas' smart meter deployment and customer's smart phones. Prior to the Texas Residential role, he led the Operations team in supporting more than 1.5 million customers in Texas and Alberta, Canada, and built the B2B commodity business in the Northeast US.

Steffes holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He and his family reside in Houston, Texas.

About Direct Energy:

Direct Energy is a leading energy and energy-related services provider with nearly five million residential and commercial customers in North America. 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 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and 10 provinces in Canada. To learn more about Direct Energy, please visit www.directenergy.com.

For further information, please contact:
Jessica Michan
Direct Energy Business
(713) 904-7488
Jessica.Michan@directenergy.com