- On Saturday 8th December, British consumers were paid to use electricity
- Bumper day of wind generation meant Octopus Energy triggered its first ever plunge pricing event for Agile Octopus customers
Groundbreaking time of use tariff Agile Octopus, the only one of its kind in the UK charges customers a different price for their electricity every half an hour. When demand is low, prices are lower and higher demand means higher prices, with prices capped. Octopus also offers plunge pricing – paying customers if prices on the grid plunge below zero. Suppliers are paid to help balance the grid by removing excess energy, with Octopus the first ever UK supplier to pass the money onto its customers.
At the lowest point between 3.30-5.30am on Saturday 8 December, Agile Octopus customers were being PAID 2.31p per kWh of electricity they used (compared to a typical large supplier who were charging up to 17p per kWh) . Agile Octopus publishes the next day’s prices at 4pm daily, and Octopus also emailed all impacted customers to let them know. Soon further advances mean customers will be able to set up automatic triggers to benefit when this happens again.
As noted by an Agile customer:
Wow! From 4.30 to 5.00 am tomorrow morning my demand response electricity tariff ‘Octopus Agile’ will charge me -2.4p/unit (yes, that’s a minus sign!) I’ll be charging up all batteries and expect a super warm house by morning, plus 50p extra in my account. Smart meters are great!
Smart time of use tariffs like Agile, that vary prices to reflect real-time energy costs and shift electricity demand to quiet times, are a crucial step on the path to cleaner energy. The Government estimates that technologies like these, that enable the shift to a more flexible energy grid, could save up to £40bn in infrastructure upgrades in the coming decades.
Octopus Energy recently released a report showing the impact of Agile in shifting consumer behaviour, lowering carbon emissions, and saving customers money. Coupled with Octopus’s open platform, it helps to put the UK at the forefront of global energy innovation.
The Octopus Energy API enables developers to read both current and historical energy prices, opening up the world of the smart grid, allowing devices to optimise the time of use and to provide deep insight and analysis.
Agile Octopus is available to all Octopus customers with a smart electricity meter installed in their home. Find out more here: https://octopus.energy/agile
For journalists in their professional capacity only. Issued by Octopus Energy Ltd. Registered office: 33 Holborn, London, EC1N 2HT. Registered in England and Wales No. 09263424. Issued: December 2018.