Regarding green energy, there are several different “shades of green” to be aware of.
According to a recent study, How environmentally friendly is your energy tariff? “Light green” enterprises that simply “purchase electricity on the wholesale market” are compared with “deep green” ones that “consistently create enough renewable electricity themselves.”
In a transaction worth more than £3 billion, the UK’s fastest-growing energy provider will soon become one of Europe’s largest investors in renewable energy, bringing green energy to 50 million homes within six years.
Octopus Energy will buy its sister company, Octopus Renewables. This will give the new company about 300 renewable energy projects in six countries, enough to power more than 1.2 million homes.
The energy company is growing quickly and wants to grow its international business to 50 million Octopus Energy users by 2027. It also wants to grow its new renewables business so that it can make as much clean electricity as it sells.
Investors valued Octopus Energy at more than $2 billion just five years after it began delivering gas and electricity, granting it double “unicorn status” — a word used to identify new startup companies worth at least $1 billion — in 2018.
Impact On The Climate
The ethical decision made by Friends of the Earth is part of a bigger picture, and Octopus Energy’s behavior is unfortunately not unusual in the energy business.
Ecotricity’s innovative concept, known as “bills-into-mills,” allows us to invest our customers’ bill money in new green energy sources.
Many other suppliers obtain their green accreditation through the purchase of certificates. According to our creator, Dale Vince, this “gives clients the illusion of greenness, which can be deceptive.”
Is It Really Green?
The Renewable Energy Association has granted us its award for “the company that has done the most to develop UK renewables” for the past two years in a row.
Given that we’ve been at the forefront of this movement, it’s encouraging to see that renewable rates are becoming more reasonable and that more major power providers are beginning to offer green electricity as standard.
As we keep working to stop the climate catastrophe, these changes are a big step forward for UK energy.
In addition to the firms and individuals who are attempting to do good for the environment, there are also some who ‘greenwash’, or create confusion to make themselves appear greener than they actually are.
We can claim with pride that Octopus Energy has nothing to do with this. At the moment, 100% of the electricity that customers use comes from green sources, and we are investing in new renewable generation.
It is essential to understand that when you sign up with a renewable energy provider, there is no separate “green grid” that distributes only renewable energy to your home.
Origin Energy Funds Them
Origin Energy, an Australian power company that owns a large coal-fired power plant, exports liquid natural gas, and is currently trying to frack for shale gas in Australia’s Northern Territories, has bought a 20% stake in Octopus Energy.
The founder explains:
It’s evident that this is a disappointing investment choice for a company that promotes itself with the slogan “energy that’s good for the planet.”
Octopus have a habit of presenting themselves as greener than they actually are, as Which? revealed in their recent survey of greenwashing in the energy sector. “
This study found that many so-called “green” energy companies may not be as ecologically beneficial as they appear, according to this study.
Reduced Costs & Superior Customer Service
It receives high marks across the board, from billing to customer service. In our poll, its consumers were the least likely to have encountered issues with their provider.
Almost eight in ten (79%) Octopus customers rated its customer service as excellent, and nearly three-quarters (74%) said they were pleased with the company as a whole.
Octopus Energy also passed our procedures review, was above average in customer response times and complaint handling, and passed our pricing review, putting them in line to become a Recommended Provider in 2022.
It was the only business in our study to get four-star ratings, and it had the highest percentage of customers who rated all four categories as “excellent.”
Where Are The Farms?
The new Octopus Energy Generation consists of three hundred projects in six nations. A one-hour “virtual tour” film reveals that many are in the United Kingdom, but many are not.
You can transfer electricity between countries, but it is not as simple as trading within a single nation. Nor is it as good for the environment as buying carrots locally instead of bringing them from Spain.
We have always campaigned for local energy in part for this reason. It is unlikely that Octopus Energy’s European generators will offer electricity to its clients in the United Kingdom.
Octopus Energy could use the renewable certifications from these European generators to show that the electricity it sells in the UK is green, but the company has joined us in saying that this is a form of “greenwashing” that should not be done.
It is reasonable to assume that this won’t occur again.
Funds Renewable Green Energy Initiatives Across The Globe
They can’t get rid of all emissions, like those from non-green transportation and the gas that customers use to heat their homes and cook with.
For a few extra pounds per month, they will make up for any carbon emissions caused by the gas you use in your home. This is accomplished in several ways, which are described in detail on this page.
With the help of our partner, Renewable World, we are funding projects that will give cheaper, cleaner energy to communities around the world that don’t have enough fuel.
Conclusion
Octopus Energy’s goal is to reach 50 million households around the world. To do this, it plans to get another 50 million homes to use its own software platform, which it rents to other energy suppliers to help them run their businesses.
Octopus has made deals with large utility companies in Australia and Japan to use the “electro-tech” software.
This software uses custom algorithms to make it easier to offer customers “smart” renewable energy tariffs that can work with home batteries and electric vehicles to make using renewable energy cheaper.
