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The Octopus data visualisation engineer Robin Hawkes

A chaos project to silence the heat pump haters? I live for this shit

One morning in March, I got a message: Greg (yup, CEO Greg) wants a public dashboard showing the realtime data from our fleet of Cosy heat pumps. Oh, and it needs to be live before the end of next week. It’s exactly this kind of pressure that I and my colleagues thrive under. Let’s do this! Here’s a window into the beautiful chaos that followed as we made the Octopus Cosy Heat Pump Fleet Performance Dashboard. I’m Robin and I lead the Data Visualisation team at Octopus. I’ve been working here for just over four years and I’ve been involved in a number of projects that you might have seen, such as Balance Forecast, Wasted Wind, and my personal GB Renewables Map. This one — time-sensitive, highly transparent and something no energy supplier has done before — was right up my street.

Robin Hawkes

Senior Data Visualisation Engineer

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A row of terraced houses in London

Renting your home? Why you call the shots on your energy bills

Nope, your landlord doesn't get to decide who your energy provider is. Your bills, your decision.

Nicki Slater-Arnold

Energy Writer

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A composite image created to celebrate the Octopus in Colour 2025 internship

A look back at our 2025 Octopus in Colour internship

As part of Octopus Energy's outreach to young talent from underrepresented groups, we run an annual Octopus in Colour Internship exclusively for young Black professionals, with the ultimate aim to increase diversity & representation in the world of energy and tech. In our 5th year running(!)* we had 30 brilliant interns across our London and Manchester offices, gaining practical experience in compliance and law, asset management, content creation, data science and more. Interns chose from a selection of 19 different departments and were with us for 8 weeks in total. After some training, they all got stuck into live project work, to give them a taste of what their role would look like full-time. Apart from socials (like bowling and games nights) and site visits to our wind farms and R&D centre in Slough, each intern also put together their own presentation which they gave in front of senior leadership, their mentors and the rest of the cohort in their final week - these were an absolute hit and included a mix of reflective run-downs of projects they'd been working on, and innovative new ideas for the business - the floor was theirs!

Folasade Imole

Marketing Intern

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Heat pump with pink flowers

How two homeowners scored a heat pump with their mortgage (and how you could too!)

When you secure a new mortgage, the biggest milestone is usually finally getting your hands on the keys. If you’re lucky, you might get a “congratulations” card in the post. You certainly don't expect your lender to foot the bill for a brand-new, low-carbon heating system! But late last year, Lloyds Bank did exactly that. If you accepted your first illustration to take out a new mortgage or switch deals with them between mid-October and late November, they offered to foot the bill for a standard heat pump installation by us here at Octopus

Nicki Slater-Arnold

Energy Writer

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Everything you need to know about plug-in solar panels

Plug-in solar is now legal in the UK. What does that mean for you?

Philip Steele

Future Technologies Evangelist

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Wind turbines off Aberdeen in Scotland

We’re throwing away billions in wind power — here’s what we can do about it

The UK has a brilliant, blustery superpower: wind. We generate massive amounts of some of the cheapest, cleanest energy in the world. But we're wasting it and we don't have to! Flexibility is the key to unlocking huge savings for consumers.

Nicki Slater-Arnold

Energy Writer

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An image of Declan, a cab driver, in front of his electric cab

The gospel according to Declan: how one London cabbie ‘saw the light’ and became an EV evangelist

For 30 years, London cabbie Declan drove a diesel taxi. Now, he's swapped to an electric cab, installed an Octopus charger, and switched to Intelligent Octopus Go. He even took our CEO Greg for a spin to preach the EV gospel!

Nicki Slater-Arnold

Energy Writer

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Illustration of pink octopus charging an ev

Intelligent Octopus Go: Smart charging and Charge Cap explained

Find out more about how smart charging works with Intelligent Octopus Go, and how our new Charge Cap feature keeps you in control.

Philip Steele

Future Technologies Evangelist

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How Allan ditched oil for a heat pump in record time — then his neighbour got one too

Allan, a homeowner in Ormesby St Margaret near Great Yarmouth, had already embraced green technology—driving an EV, generating his own power with solar panels, and storing it in a home battery. But his ageing oil boiler was the one thing he hadn’t replaced. Living off the gas grid meant relying on costly, unpredictable oil deliveries, so when his tank ran low, Allan turned to Octopus Energy for a better solution. Within days of getting a quote, an Octopus specialist guided him through the process, and a tailored system was designed to suit his home’s underfloor heating.Just five days after the survey, Octopus’s expert install team had Allan’s home running on a clean, efficient heat pump powered entirely by electricity. The seamless, fast installation—and friendly engineers—left a lasting impression, and now his neighbour is getting an Octopus heat pump installed.

Katie Hollands

Green Hero

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The Future Homes Standard is finally here. Here's what it means for you.

This is our breakdown of the Future Homes Standard (FHS) announcement.Here, you’ll find information about the Future Homes Standard: what’s driving it, how to access help, how Octopus is weathering the storm, how we’re fighting to support customers struggling with high bills, and answers to a bunch of other frequently asked questions.

Nigel Banks

Technical Director - Zero Bills and Low Carbon Homes

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Electrify your life: is switching to an electric car actually worth it?

Switching to an electric car can be cheaper and simpler than running a petrol vehicle, but it gets even better if you can charge it cheaply on a smart EV tariff. If you stay on a standard electricity tariff or rely mostly on rapid public charging, the savings are smaller right now and it may not feel worth it.

Nicki Slater-Arnold

Energy Writer

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A pink, smiling cartoon character with headphones sits at a desk with a computer

Energy prices from October 2026, and what they mean for you

Ofgem's price cap has risen by about 4%. Find out why, how this will affect you, and what to expect on your energy bill over the next few months.

Joe Richardson

Operations Director

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