Octopus Energy unveils automated real-time home energy pricing package

Octopus Energy has announced plans to provide customers with real time energy pricing by integrating its Agile Octopus smart time-of-use home energy tariff with home automation web service If This Then That.

Announced yesterday, the company claims it is the first service to integrate a complete package of smart devices, smart meters, and energy provision with If This Then That (IFTTT) technology, which triggers consumers' smart home devices to automatically adjust energy use based on half-hourly price changes offered by the Agile Octopus tariff.

Launched as a trial earlier this year, the Agile Octopus tariff enabled participating customers - including EV drivers - to choose the cheapest times of the day to charge their cars or undertake other energy intensive household activities.

Such tariffs are becoming increasingly offered by energy firms, as they seek to encourage customer behaviour which can ease pressure on the power grid, while also boosting energy productivity, reducing customer bills, and slashing emissions. Initial findings from the Octopus trial in October appeared to confirm the tariff can achieve the predicted benefits, cutting costs and emissions for customers.

The integration with IFTTT means Octopus customers can now link intelligent devices and appliances and help them to automatically reduce energy consumption at peak times when prices are higher and the grid system is more strained.

The system also allows customers to automatically have any money saved through more efficient energy use paid directly into Monzo bank accounts, or used to pay for shopping at Tesco, the firm added.

Octopus said use of IFTTT "opens the door to connecting energy consumption with thousands of potential outputs, from smart appliances to music streaming, electric vehicle charging and instant messaging update", arguing that this would give customers freedom to create energy use "which suits their lifestyles".

Greg Jackson, Octopus Energy CEO, described the move as a "groundbreaking" step. "We can make the transition to renewables faster and cheaper if we help people use energy at times when there's abundant green electricity, or to charge electric cars when prices are lowest," he said. "Octopus's Agile tariff integrated with IFTTT lets customers automate this, so they get cheaper, greener energy with less effort. This kind of technology advance is crucial to adopting the smart grid needed for a renewable future."

In related news, the announcement came on the same day trade body the Energy Networks Association (ENA) announced that all the UK's electricity grid operators have now committed to opening up requirements for building "significant" new power network infrastructure to include smart flexibility service markets as part of their day-to-day operations.

The move is aimed at opening up opportunities for smart energy technologies to compete with and complement traditional forms of energy network infrastructure, such as new pylons, transformers and substations, according to the ENA.

Moreover, it could help pave the way for more renewable energy capacity and allow households and businesses to benefit from a cheaper, lower carbon energy system, it added.

ENA highlighted research by the National Infrastructure Commission which showed using smart technologies to provide services to the grid could avoid having to build new energy infrastructure, including new power stations, potentially saving the British public up to £8bn a year by 2030.

The Commitment announced yesterday means local grid operators will openly test the market for projects to see what flexibility services are available from smart technologies such as renewable energy generation, demand side response and energy efficiency measures, comparing the costs of using them with building new energy infrastructure, ENA explained.