Why Octopus CEO Greg Jackson joined UK Cabinet Office Board
Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy Group, has been appointed as a Non-Executive Member of the Cabinet Office Board for a three-year term running from 21 July 2025 to 2028.
The board provides strategic leadership for the department, with non-executives like Greg offering independent support and challenge on the delivery of key policies and programmes.
Sustainability expertise in government
Greg founded Octopus Energy in 2015 and has since built it into one of the UK’s largest renewable energy suppliers: today managing £6bn (US$8.1bn) of generation capacity and powering more than four million homes.
Within three years, Octopus boasted nearly 200,000 customers and secured a significant energy procurement deal with Shell.
His leadership has expanded the company’s reach to 18 countries, while maintaining a clear mission to cut carbon and reduce energy costs.
Between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, Octopus produced 100% of its electricity from zero carbon sources.
Recognised with a CBE in 2024 for services to the energy industry, Greg is set to bring deep industry knowledge at a moment when energy reform is rising up the political agenda.
Exposing the cost of wasted clean energy
Octopus recently launched the "Wasted Wind Ticker", a live tool showing how much money is being spent paying wind farms to turn off due to grid constraints.
The company's research found more than £650m (US$881m) of wind power has already been wasted as of July 2025, more than 50% higher than at the same point in 2024.
With infrastructure unable to handle the growing flow of renewable electricity, fossil fuel plants are brought online instead, pushing up bills and emissions.
The energy firm has proposed a zonal pricing system, which would price electricity based on regional supply and demand.
A zonal approach would expose these regional imbalances directly in electricity prices.
By signalling where demand outstrips supply, it would encourage investment in the right places, ease grid bottlenecks and cut long-term costs while supporting a more resilient clean energy system.
“Britain needs more infrastructure, but investments must be smart and efficient otherwise they’re not investment, they’re waste,” says Greg.
“Zonal pricing removes the need for tens of thousands of pylons, saving £27bn (US$36.6bn)," he adds.
“Reducing the number of new pylons we need would not only save enormous amounts of money, but help maintain public support for clean energy.
“We shouldn’t let a handful of highly profitable giants, with the most powerful lobbyists, block these efficiencies and keep an increasingly expensive, broken system in place.
“Zonal pricing is not difficult – it’s the proven way to keep costs down and is the norm across much of the OECD.
“The longer the UK stays an outlier, the more British citizens will pay the price and the less competitive our industry will be.”
Towards a more transparent energy future
Otopus is building the green power of tomorrow.
From large-scale solar projects and wind farms on land and at sea, to community-led renewables such as the Fan Club, the Collective and onsite generation for businesses, it is accelerating the clean energy transition like never before.
To date, the company has:
- A calue of assets under management globally at US$6.8bn
- A generation capacity of >4.4GW, of which 3.9 GW comes from renewables
- A portfolio of more than 2.6 million homes powered each year by its renewable assets.
Octopus also invests in energy projects and transition-focused companies across 20 countries and 18 technologies.
As one of Europe’s largest renewable energy investors, its manages more than 270 large-scale green energy projects with a combined renewable capacity of 3.9 GW – enough to power 2.6 million homes annually.
Greg’s new position in government places him at the heart of the debate, with the opportunity to push systemic change that aligns energy policy with the UK’s climate commitments.
