Octopus Energy aiming for 100,000 ‘zero bill’ homes

Christopher McFadden
Written By
Maximilian Schwerdtfeger
Reviewed By
Published on 27 September 2024

Starship Group partnered Octopus to showcase the Zero Bills Home at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool this week – pic credit Starship Group

Starship Group partnered Octopus to showcase the Zero Bills Home at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool this week - credit Starship Group

Octopus Energy has announced it will to speed up its ‘Zero Bills’ initiative, a goal to help 100,000 households eliminate energy bills for five to ten years by 2030 following successful pilots of the scheme.

The company, the UK’s biggest electricity supplier, hopes to change the housing market by eliminating bills and helping boost the green economy.

It will work together with national and regional housebuilders to deliver new homes fully fitted with solar panels, heat pumps and battery storage and other measures to make them as close to self-sufficient as possible.

The initiative was launched in 2022 and is officially the first-of-its-kind tariff in the world that helps customers move into energy-efficient, micro-generation homes. To deliver it, Octopus Energy is working with several leading housebuilders.

Vistry Group, the UK’s largest housebuilder, is piloting the project across several development and planning to scale it in the future.

Additionally, Bellway has committed to delivering an entire 130-plot site in Bedfordshire, following successful trials in Stafford.

Verto and GS8 have commited 100% of  their future homes to be ‘Zero Bills’, which Octopus Energy has described as a “new standard in sustainable housing”.

Other participating housebuilders include Vistry Group, Bellway, and Persimmon. The former piloted the first of these new homes. Bellway has also piloted a scheme in Stafford and has since committed to another 130-plot in Bedfordshire shortly.

Other regional developers including Thakeham, Edenstone, and Hill Group also continue to keep the momentum in delivering these homes.

‘Zero Bills’ homes are also available for rent and shared ownership through partnerships with housing associations Platform, Clarion and SNG, alongside private rental providers Citra and Packaged Living.

Octopus has also relaunched its popular electric blanket scheme this winter. The company reports it is ready to supply 20,000 blankets for its customers, prioritizing the most vulnerable.

“Our electric blankets scheme supports customers most in need, particularly those with specific vulnerabilities and medical needs. To ensure the blankets are getting into the right hands, we’ll be prioritising those customers,” Octopus explains on its website.

“We know many people are worried about the costs of heating their homes over winter,” Mario Lupori, Director at Octopus Energy Group, explained.

“We’ve got 20,000 more blankets this year to give out to our most vulnerable customers, and we’re delighted that they will help them stay warm,” he added.

The scheme was first launched in 2022 and has, to date, handed out around 60,000 blankets.

Octopus Energy data showing that customers who previously received electrical blankets saw a 20% reduction in gas bills. Electrical bills rose, but by a tiny 0.2%, meaning customers saved around £150 over three months.

Written by

Christopher McFadden

Christopher is an Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) specialist with extensive experience advising consumer and trade clients on energy efficiency and sustainability. With a Master's in Earth Sciences from Cardiff University, Christopher has attained professional energy and sustainability auditing qualifications and various postgraduate certificates and diplomas. He is a qualified and accredited Level 3 and Level 4 non-domestic and domestic energy assessor, a Green Deal assessor, and a Practitioner member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). He also recently qualified as a level 5 Retrofit coordinator. In addition to his day job, Christopher has also honed his skills as a STEM writer for several well-known online publishers, sharing his knowledge and passion for science, engineering, and dinosaurs with millions of readers around the world.

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Reviewed By

Maximilian Schwerdtfeger

Max joined The Eco Experts as content manager in February 2024. He has written about sustainability issues across numerous industries, including maritime, supply chain, finance, mining, and retail. He has also written extensively for consumer titles like City AM, The Morning Star, and The Daily Express. In 2020, he covered in detail the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) legislation on sulphur emissions and its effects on the global container shipping market as online editor of Port Technology International. He also explored the initiatives major container ports and terminals have launched in order to ship vital goods across the world without polluting the environment. Since then, he has reported heavily on the impact made by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices on the supply chain of minerals, with a particular focus on rare earth mining in Africa. As part of this, in 2022 Max visited mines and ports in Angola to hone in on the challenges being faced by one of the world’s biggest producers of rare earth minerals. His most recent sustainability-related work came much closer to home, as he investigated the eco-challenges faced by independent retailers in the UK, specifically looking at how they can cut emissions and continue to thrive. Max lives in South London and is an avid reader of books on modern history and ghost stories. He has also recently learned to play the game Mahjong and takes every opportunity to do so. He is also yet to find a sport he doesn’t enjoy watching.

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