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Steven Day, one of four co-founders聽to launch聽Bath-based Pure Planet, brought an impressive career in the telecoms industry to the firm, having launched Virgin Mobile in the UK before leading roles at Orange and EE.

The firm, now one of the main challenger energy companies supplying green gas and electricity, claims to be 20% cheaper than the ‘Big Six’, despite the higher prices green energy demands.

Its app-based model uses mobile tech to minimise cost, an approach which means green energy can be sold at wholesale prices.

Day describes the firm as somewhere between 鈥楨nviroTech鈥� and 鈥楪reenTech鈥�, and says technology is聽at the heart of its offering.

The firm was created by Andew Ralston, Tom Alexander and CFO Chris Alliot. Ralston and Day previously worked together at Virgin Mobile聽in the 1990s聽and at other firms since that time.

Their initial plan for Pure Planet 鈥� a far cry from their familiar world of telecommunictions 鈥撀爓as to bring modern tech to a sector which has been, according to Day, 鈥渇rankly a complete laggard as far modernisation was concerned鈥�.

The team had seen the telecoms sector quickly moving to a more involved and interactive billing experience, and watched as the first challenger banks emerged from the FinTech sector. But the interactivity was still missing from the energy sector.

Day says most suppliers, even today, operate聽via paper bills, many of which are distributed to consumers every three months.

鈥淲e found this a complete anomaly. It鈥檚 ridiculous and no way to interact with the consumer. How is anybody supposed to engage with their energy if they鈥檝e never seen anything but a wad of paper on the doormat?鈥� he tells 老九品茶Cloud.

The founders had planned to coincide the launch of their business alongside the introduction of smart metering. They had hoped the new data from these IoT devices could be piped directly into Pure Planet鈥檚 app.

But Day says for all the clout the founders had in telecoms, they were 鈥渋nnocent newbies鈥� in the world of energy.

鈥淣aively, we thought we鈥檇 be able to launch with smart meters form the start,鈥� he recalls, assuming that the national rollout of the new technology would be straightforward.

鈥淥f course, that鈥檚 not come to pass, not just for Pure Planet but for the industry as a whole.鈥�

The firm, which does use smart meters, contracts in the technology. Despite superficial design differences,聽this is an聽underlying public standard.聽Its adoption is key to a greener world, says Day.

鈥淚t is pivotal from a national infrastructure point of view because with smart meters you can count how much energy is being consumed across your country, in way you can鈥檛 in the analogue world,鈥� he says.

This current 鈥榓nalogue鈥� world only provides energy usage figures based on guesswork, so there is no accurate forecasting. This increases energy waste, which Day says is around 11% at any one time.

The renewable energy market

Day says that the creation of the firm came at a time when price was the leading decision-making factor for consumers, a model which has the potential to cause a 鈥榬ace to the bottom鈥�.

He says the model had led some companies to go bust, unable to handle a large influx of numbers. The few customers who did seek out green energy were those with both the conscience and money to afford the more expensive option.

The green offerings available in 2016 were around 20% higher than the market average, says Day.

鈥淭here was no real differentiator between the suppliers other than price. That鈥檚 not sustainable, and you鈥檒l never be the cheapest forever.鈥�

He聽says聽all the founders had realised the impact of the climate crisis even before the creation of Pure Planet, and were worried about their children鈥檚 future without a competitive non-renewable player.

All took an interest, but Day聽would go on to聽study the subject. The choice to make the firm renewable as well as natively mobile was obvious, he says.

鈥淚f you can count what you need and what you use you can be much more mindful of how you use your energy.鈥�

A 鈥榙ouble no-brainer鈥� through tech

Before the creation of Pure Planet, Day says it wasn鈥檛 possible to sell green energy competitively, but spoke to advisors in the sector anway. Consultants told them green is more expensive because of the levy and tax 鈥� but that didn鈥檛 meant it couldn鈥檛 be done.

鈥淲e found a way. In a nutshell, by making Pure Planet digital,” Day explains. The cost savings would allow them to offer the more expensive green energy for less overall.

The digitisation made their offering 20% cheaper, offsetting the cost and making it a 鈥渄ouble no-brainer鈥� for consumers and a step closer to making renewables the new normal.

鈥淭hings have moved on a lot over the last few years, with the help of David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg 鈥� but more seriously with things like national laws on pollution.”聽Britain is at the forefront, he says, though not everyone knows it.

Day聽says the UK already has the technology it needs to become completely renewable and only needs more renewable generation through wind and solar – and better storage – to make it a reality.

In fact, the recent extreme winds caused wind-power to soar 鈥渓iterally off the charts鈥�, creating 鈥榥egative retail pricing鈥�.

鈥淚n 2018, three-quarters of houses were using renewable energy. With everything included, we鈥檙e about 60% off. It鈥檚 a typical British thing that we don鈥檛 celebrate success well. It鈥檚 one of our best-kept secrets.鈥�

The goal of 鈥榥et zero鈥� emissions, which Day says is a bit of a buzzword, will require the reconfiguration of companies across the world. He pointed to Microsoft going carbon negative, to offset its historical use of non-renewables.

The companies and providers which aren鈥檛 yet at that point now are going to have to reset as the technology evolves further. Renewable tech is also trickling down to the consumer-level, with the likes of solar power now possible from one home to the next.

Day does not see these 鈥榤icro-grid鈥� technologies as a threat to the traditional structure of a national energy network, but聽believes the companies within that network are also going to have to go green to stay part of the conversation.

鈥淥nce you鈥檝e earned the right to talk about renewables, you鈥檝e earned the right to talk to consumers about micro-grid technologies,鈥� he says.

鈥淲e do and will encourage a decentralised energy grid. You will find that to be the new normal in聽20 years.

鈥淲e鈥檒l start to think about how we want to charge our electric vehicles, and if we can sell the power in our electric cars back to the grid. Or can we use it to power our own home?鈥�

Day says a battery in the home will become as normal as a dishwasher in the near future, and the increased freedom will allow us to think about both buying and selling energy 鈥� which is why a two-way platform like the type built by Pure Planet is so necessary.

These batteries will emerge alongside the public鈥檚 understanding of 鈥榞reen intermittency鈥�; the idea that energy from wind and solar should be stored in theses batteries as it is created, and used when necessary.

He hopes Pure Planet will be the brand at the forefront of both green and micro-grid energy as the world鈥檚 energy sources devolve and become more complex.

鈥淭he future is going to be much more personal, relevant and local,鈥� he says. A two-way street, where energy can be traded from supplier to household, and household to both.

鈥淥ur view is that we can grow this business to be something that鈥檚 sizeable, meaningful and a player both here in Britain but also beyond and is playing a leading role in the digitisation of energy services.鈥�