Green Appeal: Verto joins Octopus’ ‘Zero Bills’ revolution

• Octopus and housebuilder Verto partner to roll out the UK’s first fully ‘Zero Bills’ developments
• Initiative means no energy bills for newbuilds kitted out with solar, battery and heat pump
• World-first ‘Zero Bills’ proposition now available to all UK housing developers

London 20th July 2023 - Octopus Energy, the UK’s second largest energy supplier, has opened up its ground-breaking ‘Zero Bills’ proposition to all housing developers, enabling more new homeowners to make energy bills a thing of the past.

It comes as Octopus joins forces with multi award-winning sustainable housebuilder Verto to launch the UK’s first fully ‘Zero Bills’ developments.

Together, the companies will deliver a total of 70 homes across two sites in Cornwall and Exeter. These will include multiple open market and affordable homes and the first ‘Zero Bills’ retrofit properties – proving that both new and existing properties can be outfitted to exist without energy bills.

The partnership marks the next step in Octopus’ mission to deliver 10,000 ‘Zero Bills’ homes by 2025, with the aim to roll out the initiative across the UK and Europe.

‘Zero Bills’ is a world-first smart proposition that allows customers to move into homes which are fully kitted out with green energy technology – including solar panels, home batteries and heat pumps – and with no energy bills for at least five years, guaranteed.

It’s made possible through Octopus’ proprietary technology platform, Kraken, which connects to the clean energy devices and optimises their energy usage to deliver a zero bill.

Following the success of a ‘Zero Bills’ pilot with ilke Homes in Essex, Octopus Energy has now accredited almost 600 homes through contracts with other prominent developers. Accredited plots span affordable, shared ownership, private, and rented housing.

A further 80 developers have kick-started the accreditation process with Octopus, including several volume housebuilders. More than 1200 homes have been submitted for assessment.

Octopus Energy’s ‘Zero Bills’ proposition represents a significant step forward in the fight against climate change – with residential heating representing around 13% of the EU and UK’s total carbon emissions.*

Michael Cottrell, Zero Bills Homes Director at Octopus Energy, comments: "We’re on a mission to make ‘Zero Bills’ the new standard for homes. By partnering with developers like Verto, we’re scaling this efficient green technology to homes everywhere while driving down costs for consumers.

“The technology is already proven, but through Octopus’ proprietary offering we can now bring it all together and optimise it in new houses. Together with forward-thinking developers, we can make energy bills and home emissions a thing of the past.”

Tom Carr, Co-Founder at Verto says: "We’re thrilled to be partnering with Octopus to launch the UK’s first fully Zero Bills developments. Verto has been delivering its Zero Carbon Smart Home™ product for over a decade: combined with Zero Bills, it represents a sea-change in sustainable housing. But this is just the beginning – we have several other exciting projects in the pipeline with Octopus, and we're proud to be at the forefront of this movement."

Octopus is calling on all housing developers to join its ‘Zero Bills’ revolution. The company will assess developers’ eligibility for the ‘Zero Bills’ accreditation via its proprietary assessment model. To be eligible, new developments will need solar panels, home batteries, and heat pumps (or other forms of electrified heating). Many newbuild homes are already fitted with these clean energy technology solutions as standard.

To learn more about Octopus’ ‘Zero Bills’ proposition please visit this page.

– ENDS –

Notes to editors

* Energy Conversion and Management – February 2023

Media contacts

Octopus Energy Press office

press@octoenergy.com

+44 2045308369

About Octopus Energy Group

Octopus Energy is a global energy and technology group, driving the affordable, green energy system of the future. Its operations span 15 countries and the entire energy value chain. The group invests in, builds and flexibly manages renewable energy, operating a £6 billion portfolio of projects – one of Europe’s largest.

Octopus serves 5.4 million customers through its retail arm, and has licensed its advanced data and machine learning platform, Kraken, to support 30 million customer accounts worldwide through licensing deals with energy companies, including EDF, E.ON and Origin Energy.

Kraken enables Octopus to drive the electrification of heat and transport through smart tariffs and innovative cleantech. Backed by pension funds, investors and energy giants, Octopus Energy Group businesses deliver cheaper, greener energy and cutting-edge tech to countries and customers worldwide.

For more information, check out our website.