The chief executive of one of Britain's biggest energy suppliers has threatened to send investment overseas.
Chief executive of Octopus Energy Greg Jackson has called on the UK government to overhaul its electricity grid as delays and planning hold-ups could force it to shift billions of pounds in investment elsewhere.
He added that bureaucracy and red tape is holding British business back.
Long delays in the time it takes to get connected to the National Grid mean Octopus is facing waits of more than a decade to develop some projects.
Chief executive of Octopus Energy Greg Jackson has warned delays are holding the UK back
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Speaking to The Telegraph, the 52 year old said: "We have got access to billions of pounds of capital. We’d like to deploy that here in the UK but capital goes where it can be deployed. At the moment, it is easier to build a lot of infrastructure in France and Germany than here in the UK.
"There’s a solar farm we want to build in County Durham and we won’t get a grid connection until 2037. That’s 13 years where that capital can’t be deployed. At the same time, we can deploy capital in other countries."
It comes just days after Octopus’s energy arm posted its first-ever profit since its launch in 2015.
Jackson has added that the fossil fuel companies are responsible for whipping up backlash against net zero targets, and has warned of the future for energy businesses.
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, shadow chancellor of the Exchequer, join Octopus Energy CEO and founder Greg Jackson
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He added: "I think 2023/24 is the year in which fossil fuel companies have woken up to the very real threat that their businesses now face. Already, electric vehicles are taking 1.5 million barrels of oil off the road every day
"That’s enough for oil companies to start noticing problems and you are beginning to see some scale back production forecasts.
"As a result, some are trying to foster a backlash against the [net zero] transition. I think some of them are beginning to get very worried about what their future looks like."
He has previously argued that solar and wind technology can provide cheap and reliable energy without government handouts.
Greg Jackson is the CEO of Octopus Energy OCTOPUS ENERGYJackson is still confident that the group’s expansion will continue, as he announced plans to hire a further 4,000 employees in the UK this year alone.
He said: "Our businesses in France, Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Japan are all growing on the same trajectory that the UK did. This isn’t a new version of a traditional energy business. It’s a different kind of business.
"Octopus is not really a bonus culture. Very few people get bonuses and I think they drive short-term behaviour."
