Octopus Energy reviews, tariffs and information

Octopus Energy scored three and half out of five stars for Customer Service, which was enough for it to come in third in Uswitch's most recent survey of over 16,000 UK energy customers. It also placed second in the Most Likely to Recommend category. Octopus Energy reviews were collected across five categories by Uswitch and YouGov.

Octopus Energy tariffs all offer 100% renewable electricity as standard, with the option to offset the gas that you use. Octopus also offers no exit fees, a commitment to year-on-year, transparent pricing, and personalised service. Emails and calls to Octopus Energy are answered by UK-based energy specialists, with average call wait times under a minute. Octopus Energy customers have access to an online account, with features from editing Direct Debit amounts and dates, to entering a meter reading, to managing email and account preferences, requesting a credit refund, and booking a smart meter installation.

There are a variety of Octopus Energy tariffs on offer, including fixed rate and variable tariffs. Other Octopus Energy tariffs include the Tracker tariff based on the daily wholesale price of energy, and the Agile Octopus tariff with half-hourly rates. The Octopus Go Tariff is designed especially for households with an electric vehicle, offering cheaper night rates to help make charging more affordable.

Like most UK energy suppliers, Octopus energy tariffs are subject to Ofgem's energy price cap, which sets the maximum rate suppliers can charge for average usage on their standard variable tariffs. The cap was set at its highest ever level of £1,971 in February 2022, coming into effect in April. Octopus therefore set its SVT rate at £1,968.93.

Previously, in August 2021, Ofgem announced it would be increasing the price cap to £1,277 from October 2021. In reaction to this, Octopus energy prices were increased to an average price of £1,266, making it the rare supplier to price considerably lower than the price cap level.

Octopus previously raised prices by 7% in April 2021 in response to the new price cap level. This translated to a £69 price rise for customers on the Octopus SVT. However, Octopus energy prices again remained lower than the £1,138 price cap level, with an average price of £1,032. In May 2021, there was a further Octopus energy price rise. The supplier increased prices on the Flexible Octopus tariff by an average of £54 per year. This brought the average annual price of energy on this tariff to £1,086.

Octopus energy tariffs are available as fixed or variable plans, and all are focused on renewability. Octopus offers both dual fuel and electricity only tariffs.Octopus gas and electricity tariffs are also suitable for households using an Economy 7 meter. The supplier also offers gas and electricity plans for homes with a prepayment meter.

All Octopus energy tariffs offer 100% renewable electricity, with energy needs met by clean, green sources like solar and wind power. To reduce carbon footprint even further, Octopus can offset the carbon emissions from the gas customers use for a few pounds extra each month. In the last year alone, 26,900 tonnes of CO2 have been saved from entering the atmosphere thanks to customers choosing Octopus’ low-carbon energy over an average standard tariff. That's roughly the same climate impact as planting 365 trees for each and every Octopus Energy customer.

In October 2022, Octopus announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Bulb after the latter went into special administration. Bulb's 1.5 million customers will be transferred to Octopus upon completion of the acquisition.

In September 2021, Octopus took over the customers of Avro Energy after the supplier went out of business. This totalled approximately 580,000 accounts.

In January 2020, Octopus took over the UK domestic energy offering of small supplier ENGIE. The supplier's 70,000 customers were moved onto Octopus Energy tariffs.

In August 2019, Octopus Energy acquired the Co-op Energy group, including the Co-op Energy, Flow Energy and GB Energy brands. Octopus Energy took on the group's 300,000 customers, maintaining the Co-op Energy brand.

Marks & Spencer rebooted M&S Energy in 2018 through a brand new partnership with Octopus Energy, pairing the high street legend M&S with Octopus' fresh, tech-led approach and a powerful joint commitment to customer service.

In July 2018, Ofgem announced that small supplier Iresa had gone out of business. The energy regulator appointed Octopus Energy as the new supplier of around 100,000 former Iresa customers. The Iresa customers would be offered a competitive Octopus Energy tariff, and their existing credit would be honoured by their new supplier.

In September 2018, Octopus Energy announced that it had acquired Affect Energy, a small, Shoreham-based supplier also renowned for its customer service. Read more about what happens if your energy supplier goes out of business — and why you probably don't need to worry.

The energy market is challenging and unpredictable at the moment and there is a certain level of risk to some suppliers - find out why in our energy market Q&A guide.