Energy crisis: Woman has to starve in order to stay warm
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Many energy suppliers have gone bankrupt over the past year, owing to the wholesale gas price rises which have seen around companies go out of business. This has left over two million customers dependent on the safety net provided by the market regulator, Ofgem, in order to maintain their gas supplies and protect their credit balances while they were moved to a new supplier.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Jackson explained that being incredibly well run and having impressive financial backing is the reason why Octopus Energy is still thriving.
He said: “There are a few factors that the companies that have gone bust have in common. None of which apply to us.
“Octopus started with a lot of capital. We had over £10million of investment right from the beginning, and now we’ve raised $1.5 billion of investment.
“Most [others] are in single digits. Even Bulb, which is the biggest, started with £500,000 and at peak raised less than £100m.
“I think we’ve raised 10 or 15 times more investment. That gives us a really strong balance sheet, which is needed if you’re gonna trade in energy.”
In November last year, Ofgem placed Bulb energy into special administration, becoming the largest company to fall during the energy crisis.
Bulb energy going under resulted in 1.7 million customers having to be relocated to other energy suppliers.
Mr Jackson said: “I think the other thing is that we’re running incredibly conservatively.
“We have incredible technology that forecasts and sets the trading paths for our energy, which means hedged well into the future. A lot of the companies that went bust weren’t.
“That is a decision we made. Our mission is to build a global business that makes energy cheaper and greener through the energy transition.
“When you set out with a big ambition, you want to make sure that you’re not gonna trip over your shoelaces.”
In a recent financial report, Octopus Energy stated that its revenues increased by 62 percent in the financial year 2020/2021, jumping from £1.2billion to £2billion.
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It also said that the company has halved its operating losses from £63million to £31million in the past year.
In the statement, he said: “2022 will be tough in energy, but we will fight for customer interests and work with government and industry to find solutions which may mitigate the issues for customers whilst doubling down on the investments in technology, growth and renewables which will help avoid such crises in future.
“It delivers outstanding service and has a real strength in technology.
“The move will help bolster our global buying power and enhance our tech, improving our ability to look after customers in the current market and beyond.
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