Octopus Energy boss returns to North East to meet customers and talk renewables
OCTOPUS Energy founder Greg Jackson made a special visit to the North East to hear from hundreds of customers and discuss his vision for the future of energy.
The 55-year-old, who was raised on Teesside, spoke about the region’s impact on him and his pride in seeing so many people in the region use his renewables-driven company as their supplier.
“One third of households in Newcastle are Octopus customers,” Jackson revealed, “while on Teesside it’s 28% and in Sunderland 26%, and I think that’s amazing considering we didn’t exist 10 or 11 years ago.”
Jackson and his company have revolutionised the UK energy market, with Octopus Energy becoming the first to replace British Gas as the nation’s number-one supplier.
It now has more than eight million UK customers and is one of Europe’s largest specialist investors in renewable power, with charismatic Jackson at the helm shaping an approach based on innovation and transparency.
As part of that openness, Jackson and his senior team spent the evening at an Octopus Live event at the Boiler Shop, behind Newcastle’s Central Station, meeting customers.
The Boiler Shop was Robert Stephenson’s historic workshop, where the world’s first purpose-built locomotives were made, and the Octopus CEO highlighted that heritage, as well as Sunderland’s Joseph Swan inventing the light bulb and Cragside in Northumberland being the first house in the world powered and lit by hydroelectricity.
“The region invented energy transitions, from coal in the 13th century, to railways in the 19th century and electricity generation,” he said. “And it’s great that it is playing a part in the next energy transition.
“Blyth was the place where Britain created the first offshore wind farm, an industry where we went on to become a world leader.
“I’ve talked about the need for another transition – to get off fossil fuels and for the country to have this drive towards electrification – and it’s no surprise to me to see it being taken up so enthusiastically in the North East where I’ve had so many discussions with customers here about heat pumps and solar and electric vehicles.”
Customers who accepted the invitation to the event were given free food, drink and merchandise and treated to a talk by distinguished geneticist Adam Rutherford on energy challenges and busting the myths around new home energy technologies,
A panel of Octopus Energy experts discussed how to make the energy transition work for everyone, from supporting vulnerable households to unlocking savings and practical tips for what to consider before switching.
Jackson said everyone needs to speed up the energy transition to renewables to cut bills and reduce emissions.
He pointed out that the cost of renewables keeps falling and that, for example, the cheapest new car to buy in Britain is currently electric, and that EVs can cost up to nine times less to run than fossil-fuel equivalents.
He also talked about how hard fossil fuel companies were working on political lobbying in order to slow down a transition which could and should benefit everyone.
After a question-and-answer session in which customers raised queries about everything from individual bills to political party conferences, Jackson and his team mingled with customers in the bar to listen to their feedback.
The Octopus Energy founder said: “I was blown away by so many people turning up on a weekday night to listen to us talk about tariffs, energy and zonal pricing!
“Every now and then I come and meet a few hundred customers at an event where we talk about the importance to them and us of the energy transition.
“We look at what we’re doing in the business, how we can improve and what ideas they might have
“But what I really love is afterwards, standing around and chatting with customers, enjoying a drink with them and listening to what they have to say.
“I’m from the North East, and you can always rely on people here to tell you what they think.
“It was great to have a night with them and enjoy their feedback.”
