Power firms have traditionally been a number of the UK’s least trusted companies. In 2016, we have been based to vary that.
This yr, like a few years earlier than, we’re the UK’s most trusted vitality provider, and the one that folks have been most certainly to advocate. Prospects who caught with us since we began would’ve saved £1,451 by now on common in comparison with one other massive legacy provider. And that’s simply us getting began.
Learn how we’ve been combating for truthful costs during the last eight years. Not only for our personal clients, however for each single family within the UK.
How we offer you truthful costs in a nutshell:
- We’ve saved our costs under the vitality value cap – typically the one massive vitality provider to take action.
- We helped make the vitality value cap legislation, which saved UK clients over a billion on payments in its first yr alone – and we proceed to battle for shopper protections.
- Traditionally, we’ve lower costs when others raised them. After we needed to elevate costs, we’ve finished it later, and by much less, than our rivals.
- Within the vitality disaster, we spent greater than £150 million holding everybody’s costs decrease, and an extra £30 million on our Octo Help Fund to assist clients in want
- We construct good tariffs to assist folks lower their payments by utilizing greener vitality. Like Tracker, which supplies folks clear entry to wholesale vitality costs.
- We reward folks for altering after they use vitality to keep away from fossil fuels or dissipate wind and solar energy. Schemes like Saving Periods and Energy-ups have allowed clients to earn £9 million to this point
Learn extra about our mission to maintain costs truthful under.
From 2016, we’ve uncovered the Huge 6’s ‘Tease and Squeeze’ pricing
A couple of years earlier than Octopus got here to be, our CEO Greg opened an vitality invoice for his flat. It was astronomical. He referred to as the corporate, solely to be instructed he’d rolled off his fastened contract onto a a lot larger default tariff. Since he’d referred to as, it was no hassle to maneuver him to a much better fee.
As quickly as we began welcoming clients, we took a stand in opposition to what we started to name “Tease and Squeeze” pricing. We launched an investigation with Michael Robinson from the BBC, analysing every provider’s vitality costs — a budget introductory offers, and the ‘default’ costs you’d be moved to when the intro deal ended. The distinction was stark.
Most essential suppliers have been subsidising their low presents by charging loyal clients a whole lot extra. Prospects who didn’t hold their eye religiously on the ball have been dropping out. That’s practically all of us, however we discovered essentially the most weak and low earnings properties have been hit the toughest — perversely, the folks most in want of a less expensive invoice. Learn the BBC report right here.
The most affordable deal every provider was providing (the blue dot) vs the price of the usual variable tariff they’d be switched to after (the orange sq.)
We wished to go additional to attract consideration — so we arrange slightly social experiment with a pop-up pub on Carnaby Road…
Combating for the vitality value cap
To place a cease to Tease and Squeeze techniques, we launched a nationwide marketing campaign for higher shopper protections within the type of an vitality value cap.
We shared our analysis with MPs, councils, trade teams, journalists and clients. In 2017, our message broke by way of. MPs talked about Tease and Squeeze of their arguments for a value cap.
In 2018, the vitality value cap turned legislation. It set out a good most value a provider may cost on a typical variable tariff, based mostly on the true price of provide, and permitting for a small margin on high — successfully ending Tease and Squeeze.
Within the first yr after it handed, the vitality value cap saved UK households over £1 billion on their payments.
It has been in place ever since, saving clients untold sums and holding vitality provider income in verify.
We lower costs when everybody else raised them
Time and time once more within the years following the worth cap, we have watched different suppliers set their costs to the very best they legally may. We knew we may do higher.
In 2017, when different suppliers have been all saying value rises, we introduced a lower: making our twin gas tariff £140-£80 cheaper than the remainder. We did it once more in 2019.
Ever since, we have saved our value under the vitality value cap – typically the one massive provider to take action. After we’ve needed to improve costs, we have finished it later, and by much less, than different main suppliers.
In 2017, we launched Tracker, Britain’s fairest vitality tariff
Octopus Tracker launched in 2017 as Britain’s fairest vitality tariff (here is how the Guardian lined it).
On Tracker, the unit value of vitality modifications each day, based mostly on that days’ market vitality value. Exposing the wholesale value provides clients unrivalled entry to quick time period value dips. Tracker confirmed clients for the primary time, precisely the place their vitality invoice was going.
To at the present time, Tracker is among the UK’s finest vitality offers.
In 2018, we launched the UK’s first good tariffs to assist clients save by being greener
Octopus Go, provides EV drivers a less expensive cost in a single day. Outgoing Octopus, the primary good export tariff, pays clients pretty for his or her solar energy. Agile Octopus is the primary tariff to really pay folks to make use of up spare inexperienced vitality when market costs went detrimental.
Over time, we have designed a vary of good tariffs that assist clients save a whole lot of kilos a yr for utilizing clear applied sciences on the greenest instances.
I switched to @OctopusEnergy Agile tariff and this month alone it’s saved me £211 in comparison with a typical tariff. I paid a mean of twenty-two.97p per kWh for electrical energy – beforehand I used to be at 36.98p
On my finest day in Jan I paid a mean of seven.93p per kWh.
Sport changer.
— Benjamin (@bjblyth) January 25, 2023
Learn these blogs to get to know a few of our clients who’ve efficiently diminished their payments by a whole lot and generally hundreds of kilos:
How Alan unlocked enormous financial savings along with his Octopus EV
Get to know our buyer, Alan who has saved hundreds by switching to our Clever Octopus Go tariff
Agile: making a greener, smarter vitality system
Uncover all the advantages of our progressive Agile tariff with variable half-hourly costs based mostly on the wholesale price of vitality
Within the vitality disaster, we spent £150 million holding costs down, and tens of millions extra to assist struggling clients
In 2021, international gasoline costs soared, sparking a once-in-a-generation disaster. On the peak, costs have been 14x larger than ‘regular’. This had a catastrophic influence on clients’ payments.
In addition to working intently with the federal government to herald new protections all through the disaster, we went additional for our clients:
- Absorbing £150 million to maintain everybody’s payments decrease
- Establishing Octopus Help: a assist fund for our most weak. It began with £5m, however has elevated over time to £30 million.
- Introducing or increasing progressive methods to assist clients save vitality: free electrical blankets, loaning thermal cameras to identify warmth loss, and residential visits to 200,000+ weak properties from vitality consultants
In 2022, we launched Saving Periods
We developed the world’s largest buyer vitality saving mission. Saving Periods rewards clients for collectively saving energy throughout sure instances to keep away from fossil fuels. Up to now, it is paid a whole lot of hundreds of consumers extra then £9 million.
One other superior characteristic we now have is Energy Ups, a game-changer that offers clients free vitality throughout particular, super-green instances when renewable energy is plentiful.
Wanting ahead
We are going to proceed to battle for fairer insurance policies and laws which can be within the clients’ finest curiosity. Most just lately, we now have been on the forefront the push for locational pricing to assist expose the financial savings of cheap-to-produce British renewables to clients. We have vocally opposed standing cost will increase and pushed to scale back the ‘inexperienced tax’ on electrical energy.
We began our firm with a mission to deliver clients greener, fairer, cheaper vitality.
We’ve undoubtedly saved clients cash: on common, a typical buyer who joined a hard and fast Octopus tariff in 2016 and caught with us ever since would’ve saved over £1,451 by 2023. However greater than that, we have labored exhausting to make vitality fairer for everybody – not simply our personal clients.
We’ll hold doing proper by you, and combating for fairer vitality for all.
