Mayor announces ‘London Power’ – a new, fairer energy company

18 September 2019

• Mayor launches plans for ‘London Power’, a new energy company delivered in partnership with Octopus Energy
• Energy prices will be always be fair, with electricity generated from 100% renewable sources
• Company will launch in December and is available exclusively to London households
• Any profits made by the Mayor will be reinvested into London’s communities
• Londoners are encouraged to register at www.mylondonpower.co.uk

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today announced plans for a new, fair-priced, green energy company, available exclusively to Londoners from this December.

London Power is a partnership between the Mayor and Octopus Energy, the only Which? Approved energy supplier in the UK.

Any profits made by City Hall will be reinvested into community projects to help tackle fuel poverty and make London a zero-carbon city. Octopus Energy were chosen following a rigorous open procurement process conducted by City Hall and TfL.

The partnership is part of the Mayor’s wider Energy for Londoners programme, which aims to make London’s homes warm, healthy and affordable, its workplaces more energy efficient, and to supply the capital with more local clean energy.

Londoners will be able to sign up to London Power from December and can register their interest from today at the following website www.mylondonpower.co.uk

More than a million people in the capital are living in fuel poverty, the highest number since records began, with household incomes that fail to meet the cost of heating and powering homes properly. Every year Londoners spend an estimated £3.5bn on gas and electricity household bills and the Mayor believes they are not getting fair energy prices.

On top of this, London has some of the lowest rates of switching between providers in the country, high levels of pre-payment meters usages (PPM), and low levels of energy efficiency measures, smart meters, and solar panels.

London Power aims to address these issues and will offer consumers competitive prices including:

• A competitively priced 12-month fixed tariff for electricity and gas, which will always be within the cheapest 10% of comparable tariffs available in the market. It is estimated that the tariff could save the average London household around £200 a year[1] if they switch;
• 100% renewable electricity;
• No exit fees (unlike most large suppliers);
• A roll-over onto the cheapest comparable tariff available from our supplier at the time a customer’s contract ends. This means customers will not be moved onto an expensive variable tariff at the end of their contract (as is industry practice) and instead will remain on the cheapest tariff once their contract has expired, protecting them from unfair price hikes;
• Any profits made by City Hall will be reinvested to community projects.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “It is a sad fact that millions of Londoners struggle to pay fuel bills and are subject to inflated rates from major energy companies. My Energy for Londoners programme has concentrated on tackling fuel poverty, expanding solar energy and retrofitting homes. Now I want London Power to give Londoners a better, fairer deal on fuel prices, as well as the knowledge they won’t be switched over to a rip-off tariff when their contract ends.”

According to the energy regulator (Ofgem) around 54 per cent of customers have been on higher-rate Standard Variable Tariffs for at least three years, and are therefore likely to be paying hundreds of pounds too much for their electricity and gas.

Ofgem’s most recent state of the market assessment (October 2018), found that more than 60 per cent of people were typically paying about £320 more for their energy than customers on the cheapest fixed-term tariffs. It also found that 35 per cent of consumers earning less than £16,000 have never switched energy provider, compared to 30 per cent of other customers.

Stuart Jackson, Co-founder of Octopus Energy said: "With around 12% of the capital in fuel poverty, never has a vital service like energy been so desperate for a new lease of life in London. We are absolutely thrilled to work with the Mayor of London on setting up this pioneering new company to help Londoners pay the right price for their power, and to ensure that the energy they use is 100% renewable to boot! London Power has the opportunity to turn around a strained system with world-class (and local!) customer service, fairer prices for all and reinvestment of profits into environmental initiatives. We can’t wait to get things started."

The Mayor has also launched a new phase of Solar Together London, the group-buying programme that enables Londoners to install solar panels on their homes at an affordable price. 12 London boroughs are working with the Mayor and group-buying experts iChoosr, to promote the scheme locally and help boost London’s solar capacity. 624 London homes have already had solar panels installed through the scheme since the Mayor launched it last year, with an estimated CO2 saving of 10,564 tonnes over the lifetime of the solar panels.

Dr Nina Skorupska CBE FEI, Chief Executive at the Renewable Energy Association said: “The launch of London Power demonstrates a milestone in London’s journey towards a net zero carbon city by providing consumers with the option to become socially responsible in their energy choices whilst economically benefitting themselves and their community. As public concern about climate change and fuel poverty levels are both on the rise, it’s excellent seeing London Power make the link and choose to both reinvest City Hall's profits and appoint a 100% renewable power provider as part of the solution."

Notes to editors

1, To register interest in signing up to London Power ahead of its launch in December visit www.mylondonpower.co.uk

2, The objectives of London Power are to keep energy bills low rather than make a profit. Once the company has broken even, any surplus made by City Hall will be invested into community projects

3, As part of his Energy for Londoners programme, the Mayor is also working hard to improve energy efficiency in London homes to reduce the impact on climate change. London’s homes are responsible for around one third of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and a quarter of them have the worst energy performance rating. For more info visit www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/energy/energy-londoners