£50m Octopus crisis fund

OCTOPUS has said it is choosing to make a loss to help struggling households through the energy crisis.

The UK energy start-up has pledged £50m to support customer bills through this sixmonth price cap period, which is part of a longer-term package worth £150m.

Octopus’ chief executive Greg Jackson said he is voluntarily shouldering losses during what he described as a ‘once in 30year crisis’.

He said: ‘The reality of the crisis is beginning to show up on people’s bills. This is a problem bigger than any company and it’s bigger than the UK.’

Octopus recently became the first supplier to charge existing customers below the latest energy price cap, which rose from £1,277 to £1,971 for the majority of Britons this month. Existing customers are paying £50 below the new price cap.

‘We are choosing to make a loss to help customers,’ Jackson told the Mail on Sunday. ‘But we can only lose so much.’

Octopus posted operating losses of £31m during the last financial year, while revenue increased from £1.2bn to £2bn.

To tackle the problem, Jackson called on policymakers to consider spreading the cost of soaring fuel prices beyond just one year. He said: ‘If you try and take a once in a generation crisis and pay for it all in a year then it is catastrophic for individuals, families and inflation.’