Pure Planet: wholesale energy prices with a monthly membership fee

Utilities newcomer Pure Planet is offering customers wholesale energy prices without price mark-ups. Here's what you need to know.

A new energy company has launched giving you wholesale energy with no price mark-ups. 

Pure Planet is from the people behind Virgin Mobile and in the spirit of staying on mobile, the energy company operates digitally through an app.

As its name suggests, the firm gets its energy primarily from wind, solar and tidal projects. 

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How does the wholesale model work?

Pure Planet energy charges households the wholesale cost of energy with no mark-ups, fluctuating with the prices on the market.

The monthly fee includes the standing charge and, as there is no fixed term, you won’t be hit with any major bill shocks. 

You’ll be notified of any changes in price (down as well as up) a month in advance.

The energy company says that its offering can heat a typical three-bedroom home for 20% less than the Big Six energy suppliers.    

You can see how much you can save by clicking on the comparison map on Pure Planet’s website.

How do I get readings?

It’s easy to get a reading from Pure Planet. You’ll be notified when you're due to take a reading via smartphone, then it’s just a case of tapping the app and taking the meter reading.

What’s more, you’ll get a 12-month forecast of how much you’ll likely be paying for energy, factoring in less for summer and more for winter.

Your account on the app will let you see an up-to-date version of your energy spend and send meter readings.

If you run into any problems, you can get answers from WattBot, an androgynous artificial intelligence robot. You won’t have the hassle of waiting in a phone queue because the vast majority of queries are handled online. There is still the option to phone, but few customers are expected to.

How do I sign up?

You can get involved through the app. It's available to download from the App Store or Google Play.

It's proved quite tricky to find Pure Planet on Google, but you can head over to purepla.net if you have any issues.

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