Major utilities companies are among Europe 's worst polluters and most , until now , have viewed renewable energy as unrealistic and uneconomic . Now , utility executives meeting at the Paris Climate Conference , realise they must come up with new strategies to survive , as renewable energy accounts for more than a third of Europe 's power and is pricing fossil fuels and nuclear plants out of the market . While a few companies , such as Italian utility companies , were early to embrace renewables and are now in a relatively strong market position , utility companies that supported renewables the longest have suffered the biggest losses from falling share prices . Swiss utility boutique EIC fund manager Andreas Schneller said distribution grids and renewables are where the growth is. While belatedly on the renewables bandwagon , French utility EDF has announced plans to invest up to € 2.5bn p.a . in renewables , albeit mainly abroad . Meanwhile , German utility RWE , which is heavily reliant on coal , is setting up a separate strategy to focus on renewables and grids , following in the footsteps of its competitor E.ON , which opted for a similar strategy last year .
Major utilities companies are among Europe 's worst polluters and most , until now , have viewed renewable energy as unrealistic and uneconomic . Now , utility executives meeting at the Paris Climate Conference , realise they must come up with new strategies to survive , as renewable energy accounts for more than a third of Europe 's power and is pricing fossil fuels and nuclear plants out of the market . While a few companies , such as Italian utility companies , were early to embrace renewables and are now in a relatively strong market position , utility companies that supported renewables the longest have suffered the biggest losses from falling share prices . While belatedly on the renewables bandwagon , French utility EDF has announced plans to invest up to € 2.5bn p.a . in renewables , albeit mainly abroad . Meanwhile , German utility RWE , which is heavily reliant on coal , is setting up a separate strategy to focus on renewables and grids , following in the footsteps of its competitor E.ON , which opted for a similar strategy last year .