I participated in the Octopus demand reduction trial on Monday this week. For my efforts they paid me £22. I see this as a game changer in consumer engagement in the energy transition.
I was one of 400,000 Octopus customers who participated, my understanding is that nationally over 1 million homes and businesses participated through their suppliers.
I got the email on Sunday telling me that Monday 5-7pm would be the target period for reduction. I opted in. At 5pm on Monday I turned off our air source heat pump, and most of the lights in the house, and we had dinner after 7pm.
It was all pretty easy. The house was slightly colder by 7pm than it had been at 5pm, we had to wait for dinner, but no great hassles. When I got the email on Tuesday with the results, I was happy with my £22.
Now I want this automated; I want my Heat Pump to decide for me when to run. I want Octopus and National Grid ESO to create APIs that make this easy. I want equipment manufacturers to build this into their products.
To be clear I want my devices to be acting on my instructions, I do not want anyone else making the decisions for me.
£22 changes the business case, if I can save £220 across the 10 trial periods this winter then I can afford smart devices and I am willing for the house to be 1 degree colder.
This trial would not have been possible 5 years ago. We did not have the penetration of smart meters, and we did not have the latest generation of customer and billing systems that allow these trials to run.
We also have a new breed of leaders in our industry willing to try these solutions.
#energytransition #engagement #energy #energytransition
Octopus Energy National Grid ESO
