Octopus' local chief customer officer Margaret Cooney. Photo: Supplied / Steve Montgomery
Every winter New Zealand's energy system faces a tricky balance - the system operator Transpower struggles to make sure it has enough electricity to keep the lights on in winter. Enter Octopus Energy. The company is a new player among New Zealand electricity retailers having arrived in 2022. But it is a major player in the UK market. It started operations there in 2016 and has become one of the biggest retailers.
The company uses a demand management tool - where it incentivises customers to turn power down and profit by way of payments or cheaper power bills.
During the UK's 2022 winter energy crisis Octopus worked with the UK's National Grid to get hundreds of thousands of customers to turn down their power usage. They shifted at tight peak moments close to 200 megawatts - the equivalent of a major power station. The company wants to start doing more of that here but says regulatory changes are needed to allow for more of its innovations.
Margaret Cooney - chief customer officer at Octopus - talks to Kathryn.
