http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-01/eon-split-to-fortify-german-green-energy-transformation.htmlE.On the world's largest utility has rather drastically responded to the spiralling costs of, erm, existing. Its books (like all German utilities) have been in the red for a while: first Merkel ditches the nuclear sector to win the last election, then an increasingly onimous death spiral means more irate consumers are disconnecting; and now the CDU (not the SPD, mind) want to pull support for coal too. - all the while renewables get plum access to the grid. It's a sad new world for what was once a pretty dependable sector.
So the company has taken the plunge. All the loss-making assets - the nuclear plants, the fossil fuels and their associated upstream programmes will be placed in a new company, which I presume will be kept alive with public assistance. The rump E.On will focus exclusively on the renewable element to the energy pie.
RWE is sceptical.
