As we head into 2022, it’s fairly clear that issues are usually not alright on the planet of vitality. Astronomical will increase available in the market value of vitality have meant payments are greater than they’ve ever been, leaving households struggling to pay and with out choices. Not solely that – 28 UK vitality suppliers ended up going bust in 2021, displacing almost 6 million prospects.
Clients are understandably fearful, not solely about their very own payments, however whether or not their provider is the subsequent to go bust.
So I needed to jot down a bit about our enterprise. The way it was set as much as be completely different from the remaining and the way because of this, we’ve been capable of scale quickly and stay outrageously good for purchasers. Our primary precedence proper now could be supporting everyone via these extremely robust occasions.
We’re now the most important electrical energy provider within the UK.
Over the previous few years, we’ve grown to energy over 6.4 million houses, and expanded to a complete host of nations, together with Spain, Italy, and New Zealand. We’ve been capable of create 1,500 new inexperienced jobs — whereas ensuring that every one our employees are nicely taken care of through the pandemic (zero furlough and no layoffs).
Right here within the UK, Octopus Power Group has taken on board a raft of thrilling new companies (together with Octopus Renewables with £3bn of photo voltaic farms and wind generators), bringing your complete inexperienced vitality provide chain underneath one roof – and we’ve expanded into inexperienced heating and transport too.
If all that wasn’t sufficient, due to new world buyers together with Technology, the sustainable fund co-chaired by Former Vice President Al Gore, we’re now valued at roughly the identical measurement as Centrica, who personal British Gasoline.
So what are we doing proper?
Properly for starters, our tech has taken the world by storm. Our home-grown, cutting-edge vitality platform – Kraken – permits us to chop operational prices by a whopping 50%. Kraken is cloud based mostly, tremendous scalable, and unbelievably agile, with a whole bunch of updates going dwell on the platform on daily basis (the place older vitality techniques can solely be up to date in bulk each 3-6 months).
Not solely does Kraken empower our superior, hardworking vitality consultants to assist prospects like by no means earlier than, but it surely additionally empowers prospects themselves, enabling all kinds of inexperienced innovation, like our good tariffs Agile Octopus and Octopus Go (which offer you entry to cheaper vitality when the grid is chock stuffed with renewable generated electrons). Because of Kraken, we’ve been capable of construct a robust, interconnected good vitality ‘internet’ – all underneath one roof.
We’ve even been licensing Kraken to make life simpler (and hopefully greener) for purchasers with different vitality suppliers too: inside months of the German vitality large E.ON transferring their operation to Kraken, their buyer scores have jumped from 1.3 / 5 to above 4.
What does this imply for you?
We’re not going wherever. And we’re doing the whole lot we are able to to assist you.
We’ve at all times been honest and clear, preventing rip-off techniques in vitality. In much less turbulent occasions, we purpose for a goal 5% margin to cowl the prices of operating a profitable enterprise, charging prospects based mostly on the wholesale value of vitality. In different phrases, we insist upon impeccable service and honest, sustainable pricing. We by no means ask for greater than we want. As an alternative, we put money into ensuring our prospects have the perfect assist, our employees are completely satisfied, and that we’re repeatedly capable of innovate, pushing the trade ahead.
Regardless of the excessive value of vitality, we’ve been in a position to make use of our numerous companies and good tech to put money into our prospects; absorbing £150 million in further prices to this point to maintain prospects’ payments decrease.
And we aren’t simply ‘surviving’. We’re utilizing our sources to make issues higher for purchasers. Making a £15 million fund for monetary help for these struggling most, which we determined to extend to £30m in December. Working an enormous Winter Exercise problem to assist prospects minimize their fuel payments, resulting in over £1 million in invoice financial savings in simply over a month. We’re additionally speaking to the federal government about options and maintaining folks nicely knowledgeable of the scenario.
Replace: Assist for purchasers via the vitality disaster
Please, please get in touch with us in the event you’re struggling together with your payments. There are various methods we will help.
We have doubled our £15 million Octo Help Fund to £30 million as a part of our marketing campaign to assist these fearful about paying for his or her vitality this Winter. When you’re an Octopus buyer, you may entry our Monetary Help type right here – a fast and easy on-line device which asks you a collection of questions on your monetary scenario. We will supply a variety of assist choices based mostly on circumstances and wish, together with entry to present schemes, financial assist from the fund, or a mortgage of a thermal imagery digicam to seek out warmth leaks at dwelling. If you wish to know extra about what to do within the face of rising vitality costs, it is price visiting our devoted weblog.
Lots of the small suppliers which have gone bust this 12 months failed with unsustainable enterprise fashions within the present turbulent market circumstances – maybe attractive new prospects with dirt-cheap tariffs, or not ‘hedging’ full (promoting vitality for lower than they paid for it on the wholesale market). This often signifies that customer support takes successful (as a result of there aren’t sufficient sources to take care of everyone) and in the long run, there isn’t sufficient cash to cowl enterprise prices or climate turbulent vitality costs.
Then again, the Octopus mannequin speaks for itself. Regardless of the pandemic and the vitality disaster, we’re Which? really useful for the 4th 12 months in a row (one thing that has by no means been completed earlier than), we have been named USwitch vitality provider of the 12 months, we’re Nationwide Expertise’s ‘Tech Firm of the Yr’, and have been named ‘Firm of the Yr’ by the Renewable Power Affiliation for the second 12 months operating.
We’re simply getting began
These are darkish, laborious occasions in vitality, it is true. However in the event you’re a buyer of ours, please know this: you’re with a extremely giant, world enterprise, on a mission to construct a cleaner, fairer vitality system for the world. Our distinctive, much-sought-after expertise, prudent hedging, and growth into vitality era, heating, and transport imply we’re not simply surviving or ‘right here to remain’ – we’re going sturdy. We’ve by no means been higher positioned to help to those that want it. As at all times, our most vital precedence is you.
Love and Energy.
