For our latest guest blog on the ORB Blog page we are happy to introduce Karin Sode, Chief People and Community Officer at one of the UK’s newest energy suppliers, People’s Energy (who we are also proud to count as one of our #ORBMembers)
Karin and the team at People’s Energy have introduced a new Community Partnership scheme for charities and share all the details below:
As well as working in my leadership consultancy, I am also involved in a new green and disruptive energy supplier.
My partner and I crowdfunded and raised £500K for the project during Spring of 2017 and launched the company in August last year. We are now at 7,500 customers, have a team of 20 people and an annual turnover of £5m. This is an amazing achievement and just the start of our ambitious plans to revolutionise the UK energy supply market for consumers!
People’s Energy is a new green and ethical energy supply company based in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh. We supply to the UK (with the exception of Northern Ireland), and we are the UK’s only crowdfunded energy company.
Our aim is to put energy back into public control and away from the shareholder driven model of the Big 6, leaving many people to struggle with excruciating energy bills (as evidenced recently with the announcements from the big-energy companies of further increase in prices).
We will do this by giving back 75% of profits to our customers, transferring ownership of the company to customers in three years and ultimately returning all profits back in 7 years. Our gas and renewable electricity Tariff is variable to ensure our customers get the best deal – and we have already lowered our rates twice since we started trading in August last year. We have a staff member on our board of directors, just as we are about to invite a customer representative to join the board – transparency and openness is a key value for us.
In support of our company-values then, we are keen to support local community projects and charities around the country. We would much rather spend money supporting worthwhile projects than on expensive price comparison websites!
Community Partnership
So! We’re introducing our new scheme: Community Partnerships.
This is where People’s Energy donate a sum of money for every customer that signs up to join People’s Energy via the partnered community project or charity. We’d like to offer £20 for every customer that signs up (assuming they sign up for both gas and electricity – for a single fuel customer we will pay £10).
Everyone Benefits!
The benefits to the charity or project and their members and contacts are:
- The project/charity raises funds (hopefully a lot!)
- The users/members/supporters save money on their energy: The People’s Energy tariff is cheaper than Big 6 Tariffs; most people can save around £150-£200 per year depending on usage. In addition, they will get profits back, meaning that they will always get the best deal.
- We can offer a service that does all the leg work for people in changing supplier, to help them save money without hassle – this is particularly relevant for projects and charities supporting people who may be struggling in life for a variety of reasons
- Users will also help look after the planet and contribute to social causes, as we offer 100% renewable electricity, and our plans include providing affordable energy to all households, including those on lower incomes and in fuel poverty
How it works
We provide each project or charity with a voucher code that they can share with their users and supporters. They will be prompted to enter the code at the end of the People’s Energy signup process. We will check the code, then, assuming all is well, will transfer the donation to the charity’s accounts in 3 months’ time from when you go live.
Respecting people in challenging situations
We are absolutely aware of the need to tread with care when approaching people who may be struggling. We would work with any project or charity to make sure that the fundraising initiative would at no point feel too intrusive or ‘in your face’, at all times respecting people where they are at.
Let me know if you have any suggestions for possible partnerships or would like more information!
Kind regards,
Karin
If you’d like to know more, Karin’s contact details are listed below. She would be more than happy to have a chat with you or your contacts within specific charities or community projects, if you would like more information
Karin Sode – karin@peoplesenergy.com (0131 285 5510)