One of the founders of a new energy, which aims to put its customers in control, has pledged to bring “justice and belief” back into the market.
David Pike, who has founded People’s Energy with his wife, Karin Sode, told Utility Week they plan to “practice what we preach in terms of being open and honest”.
The start-up company has just received its Ofgem licence and will offer customers renewable energy and free shares for those who stay with the firm.
Pike said they will also give their customers 75 per cent of any profits back though an annual rebate, once the company is in the black.
“We will have a customer representative, who will sit on our board and have full access to all of the company’s data,” added Pike.
“We will also publish all our wages and what we are buying our energy for. All of our profit margins will be completely available. We will also have customers voting on decisions. If there is a major business decision, we will poll the customers on what they want us to do now.”
Pike added there “doesn’t feel like there is a great deal of transparency or openness in the market”.
“We wanted to turn that around and put justice and belief back into market. We want people to trust us and know that People’s Energy will do the right thing. Whatever decisions we are making, we are making on their behalf. They are the people who will be benefitting from the profits,” he said.
The company has been backed by around 1,700 people through the Crowdfunder website, having raised more than £400,000 for the new venture.
He added the prospect of an energy price cap, which will form a key part of the Conservatives’ general election manifesto is “long overdue”.
“We’re trying to create a company that looks after its customers forever, rather than people having to go on a switching site every 12 months and look for the best deal. We’re want to ethically underpin low prices forever, rather than legislative it in,” he said.