Tracker & Agile, the Iran war and rising wholesale prices: stick or fix?

Why are energy prices spiking right now?

Conflict in the Middle East has severely disrupted global gas supply. Wholesale prices have responded accordingly.

Find out exactly what’s happened and what it means for energy prices here.

Every version of Octopus Tracker and Agile Octopus has a built-in price cap. Your rate moves with the wholesale market, but it can never go beyond that ceiling - no matter what happens globally.

The current cap sits at 100p/kWh for electricity and 30p/kWh for gas.

To put that in context: August 2022 was the most volatile month in UK energy history, when wholesale gas prices hit nearly ten times their normal levels. Even then, Tracker rates never exceeded their cap.

Have Tracker and Agile actually been worth it over time?

Yes, and the numbers tell the full story. Let's look at Tracker specifically – the last time global conflict sent energy prices spiralling, Tracker customers came out ahead. Here's exactly how it played out:

A typical customer who joined Tracker in March 2021 (a year before Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered a global energy crisis), and stayed on it through to March 2026 saved £1,462.11. That's compared to being on Flexible Octopus over the same period.

Because Tracker follows the daily wholesale price, it does spike during moments of crisis - but it also drops when the market calms. Flexible Octopus moves much more slowly, meaning Tracker customers benefit far more when prices fall. Over five years, those cheaper days added up significantly:

This example above assumes a customer who signed up to a 12-month Tracker contract and switched to the latest available version each year at renewal.

I’m on Octopus Tracker or Agile Octopus – should I move to a standard tariff right now?

That's genuinely your decision and we'd never push you either way. What the data shows is that with these dynamic, wholesale-based tariffs, you may pay more than standard tariff customers in the short term, but often these spikes don't erase long-term gains.

We don't know how long conflict could last, but if the situation stabilises soon and wholesale prices fall back quickly, leaving your dynamic tariff now means being locked out for up to 9 months - so would mean missing out on those lower prices for a while.

Over the past five years, Tracker and Agile customers who stayed the course have come out with savings.

If you'd like security and stability during this turbulence, you're free to fix now or move to Flexible Octopus, our price cap protected tariff – read more about those options.

Whatever you decide, we're here to help.

Do Tracker & Agile have exit fees?

No. There are no exit fees on Tracker - you can leave whenever you like. Just bear in mind that if you leave before your 12-month term is up, you won’t be able to rejoin for another 9 months.

Good to know: this does apply if you leave within the last 49 days of your tariff ending.