Promising well funded new energy supplier
Octopus Energy is a new energy supplier which began taking on customers from July 2016. Like many of the growing number of new energy suppliers that have entered the market recently, Octopus Energy is still very much an unproven entity. However, so far they have made a promising start and look set to be a sustainable player in this market.
What we like about them is this.
They have a well thought through proposition, a swanky looking website and a clear focus on where they are going.
Most importantly, however, is that they have put together a serious management team and secured significant financial backing from a successful and fast growing investment management company. This should give them the financial clout to not only weather the volatility of the energy market but to be able to fund a rapid growth path.
We like the fact that they do not dip into your bank account before you are on supply. Your first payment will be taken on the actual day you come on supply but, unlike many of the recent unfunded entrants, they do not dip into your bank account early to fund their business model.
We also like that they are fully transparent with their financial accounting, publishing full accounts even when they are not obligated to.
Finally, we learnt an interesting thing or two about Octopuses (or is it Octopi?) in our research. Not only that they are venomous, 8 armed, blue-blooded invertebrates that can squeeze through a hole 2 inches in diameter but also that...they have 3 hearts, 9 brains (one for each arm plus a central CPU) and can grow back an arm if they lose one. That last skill may come in handy for Octopus Energy if one of the Big 6 energy suppliers takes a bite out of them.
Octopus Energy is a new energy supplier which began taking on customers from July 2016.
The company is ultimately backed by Octopus Investments, one of the UK's fastest growing investment management companies with some £5 to £6 billion in assets under management. Octopus Investments specialises in raising capital through Venture Capital Trusts and Investment funds and invests directly in companies and assets, with a particular focus on smaller companies, healthcare, property finance and, of course, energy.
In the energy sector Octopus Investments is the UK's largest investor in solar farms, and has also invested significantly in wind generation, in anaerobic digestion plants, and in "rapid response" gas generation (gas generation plants used to balance the energy supply side when there is no wind and sun). Since 2011, Octopus has built 154 solar farms in the UK with a further 66 projects in France (current as at Jan 2017).
Octopus Energy entered the market with the belief that the energy business they wanted to create would be better for customers (simpler, more transparent and honest), better for the planet and better value.
They are attacking these goals by;
Doing away with lock in contracts
Offering a true green tariff that combines 100% renewable electricity with full carbon offset on the gas side.
Focusing on the use of technology to create a leaner, lower cost and more responsive business. Octopus Energy currently claims an average email response time of just 30 minutes for customer service enquiries.
Octupus Energy is of course not the first energy supplier to come to market with these ambitions. Co-operative Energy made a lot of similar promises about "always offering fair prices" and being "committed to a sustainable world" and look where Co-operative energy ended up.
However, having met the Company and seen their operations, coupled with the management team and financial backing that they have put in place indicates that this is one of the new energy suppliers that could actually make a difference.
The Company operates from offices in Soho, London.
Octupus Energy offers a range of 4 tariffs for customers who want to pay by Monthly Direct Debit and who want to manage their account online.
Octopus Energy offers electricity only tariffs and dual fuel tariffs. It does not offer gas only tariffs.
Octupus Energy does not supply prepayment meter customers at the current time.
Octopus Energy is not signed up to the Warm Home Discount Scheme.
Octopus Energy is signed up to the Energy Switch Guarantee.
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