Campaigners travel from US to protest ahead of Drax AGM

Environmental campaigners from the United States have travelled to the UK to protest against energy giant Drax, ahead of its annual general meeting on Thursday.

Katherine Egland and Dr Krystal Martin both reside in Gloster, Mississippi, where the energy firm produces its wood pellets.

These are then transported to Drax’s power station near Selby, which produces around five per cent of the UK’s electricity.

Controversially, Drax is heavily subsidised by taxpayers as the energy is produced from burning the US wood pellets, which is classified as renewable as trees can be regrown.

In 2024, Drax agreed to pay £25m after a probe by energy industry regulator Ofgem found the company had failed to properly report data on the types of wood it uses for its biomass pellets.

Ms Egland said that “Drax's presence in Gloster has been marked by broken promises and environmental harm”.

The pair bought shares in Drax to attend last year’s AGM, but claimed they faced “intentional and deliberate attempts to silence our voices”.

This year part of the meeting has been moved online, which campaigners have claimed shows “Drax is running scared”.

A spokesperson for the firm said: “All of Drax’s shareholders have a right to be able to participate in a respectful and secure AGM.

“In line with this, we have evolved the meeting format over the years and for the coming AGM we have made further changes.

“Previously activists have attended our AGM and aggressively disrupted proceedings.

“This intimidating behaviour undermined the opportunity for shareholders to engage in constructive dialogue with and put challenging questions to board members.

“We hope that the new format for the meeting helps ensure our shareholders can participate safely and have their voices heard by their board.”