Power firms have traditionally been a few of the UK’s least trusted companies. In 2016, we had been based to alter that.
This yr, like a few years earlier than, we’re the UK’s most trusted vitality provider, and the one that folks had been most probably to suggest. Prospects who caught with us since we began would’ve saved £1,451 by now on common in comparison with one other giant legacy provider. And that’s simply us getting began.
Learn how we’ve been preventing for truthful costs over the past eight years. Not only for our personal prospects, however for each single family within the UK.
How we offer you truthful costs in a nutshell:
- We’ve stored our costs beneath the vitality value cap – usually the one giant vitality provider to take action.
- We helped make the vitality value cap legislation, which saved UK prospects over a billion on payments in its first yr alone – and we proceed to struggle for client protections.
- Traditionally, we’ve lower costs when others raised them. After we needed to elevate costs, we’ve accomplished it later, and by much less, than our rivals.
- Within the vitality disaster, we spent greater than £150 million conserving everybody’s costs decrease, and an additional £30 million on our Octo Help Fund to assist prospects in want
- We construct sensible 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 once they use vitality to keep away from fossil fuels or deplete wind and solar energy. Schemes like Saving Periods and Energy-ups have allowed prospects to earn £9 million up to now
Learn extra about our mission to maintain costs truthful beneath.
From 2016, we’ve uncovered the Massive 6’s ‘Tease and Squeeze’ pricing
A number 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 advised he’d rolled off his mounted contract onto a a lot increased default tariff. Since he’d referred to as, it was no bother to maneuver him to a much better price.
As quickly as we began welcoming prospects, 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 primary suppliers had been subsidising their low gives by charging loyal prospects lots of extra. Prospects who didn’t maintain their eye religiously on the ball had been dropping out. That’s practically all of us, however we discovered probably the most weak and low revenue properties had been hit the toughest — perversely, the folks most in want of a less expensive invoice. Learn the BBC report right here.
The most cost effective 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 needed to go additional to attract consideration — so we arrange somewhat social experiment with a pop-up pub on Carnaby Road…
Preventing for the vitality value cap
To place a cease to Tease and Squeeze techniques, we launched a nationwide marketing campaign for higher client protections within the type of an vitality value cap.
We shared our analysis with MPs, councils, business teams, journalists and prospects. In 2017, our message broke by means 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 normal variable tariff, based mostly on the true price of provide, and permitting for a small margin on prime — 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 prospects untold sums and conserving vitality provider earnings in examine.
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 had been all asserting value rises, we introduced a lower: making our twin gasoline tariff £140-£80 cheaper than the remainder. We did it once more in 2019.
Ever since, we have stored our value beneath the vitality value cap – usually the one giant provider to take action. After we’ve needed to enhance costs, we have accomplished 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 (this 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 offers prospects unrivalled entry to quick time period value dips. Tracker confirmed prospects for the primary time, precisely the place their vitality invoice was going.
To this present day, Tracker is among the UK’s greatest vitality offers.
In 2018, we launched the UK’s first sensible tariffs to assist prospects save by being greener
Octopus Go, offers EV drivers a less expensive cost in a single day. Outgoing Octopus, the primary sensible export tariff, pays prospects pretty for his or her solar energy. Agile Octopus is the primary tariff to truly pay folks to make use of up spare inexperienced vitality when market costs went damaging.
Over time, we have designed a vary of sensible tariffs that assist prospects save lots of of kilos a yr for utilizing clear applied sciences on the greenest occasions.
I switched to @OctopusEnergy Agile tariff and this month alone it’s saved me £211 in comparison with a normal tariff. I paid a median of twenty-two.97p per kWh for electrical energy – beforehand I used to be at 36.98p
On my greatest day in Jan I paid a median of seven.93p per kWh.
Sport changer.
— Benjamin (@bjblyth) January 25, 2023
Learn these blogs to get to know a few of our prospects who’ve efficiently diminished their payments by lots of and generally 1000’s of kilos:
How Alan unlocked big financial savings together with his Octopus EV
Get to know our buyer, Alan who has saved 1000’s by switching to our Clever Octopus Go tariff
Agile: making a greener, smarter vitality system
Uncover all the advantages of our revolutionary 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 hundreds of thousands extra to assist struggling prospects
In 2021, international gasoline costs soared, sparking a once-in-a-generation disaster. On the peak, costs had been 14x increased than ‘regular’. This had a catastrophic impression on prospects’ payments.
In addition to working carefully with the federal government to herald new protections all through the disaster, we went additional for our prospects:
- Absorbing £150 million to maintain everybody’s payments decrease
- Organising Octopus Help: a assist fund for our most weak. It began with £5m, however has elevated over time to £30 million.
- Introducing or increasing revolutionary methods to assist prospects save vitality: free electrical blankets, loaning thermal cameras to identify warmth loss, and residential visits to 200,000+ weak properties from vitality specialists
In 2022, we launched Saving Periods
We developed the world’s largest buyer vitality saving venture. Saving Periods rewards prospects for collectively saving energy throughout sure occasions to keep away from fossil fuels. Up to now, it is paid lots of of 1000’s of shoppers extra then £9 million.
One other superior function we now have is Energy Ups, a game-changer that provides prospects free vitality throughout particular, super-green occasions when renewable energy is plentiful.
Wanting ahead
We are going to proceed to struggle for fairer insurance policies and laws which can be within the prospects’ greatest curiosity. Most just lately, we’ve been on the forefront the push for locational pricing to assist expose the financial savings of cheap-to-produce British renewables to prospects. We have vocally opposed standing cost will increase and pushed to cut back the ‘inexperienced tax’ on electrical energy.
We began our firm with a mission to convey prospects greener, fairer, cheaper vitality.
Now we have undoubtedly saved prospects cash: on common, a typical buyer who joined a set 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 laborious to make vitality fairer for everybody – not simply our personal prospects.
We’ll maintain doing proper by you, and preventing for fairer vitality for all.
