User:StewartRo/sandbox

Pure Planet is an energy supply company based and headquartered in Bristol, England. Co-founded by Andrew Ralston, Chris Alliott, Steven Day and Tom Alexander in 2016, BP, the British multinational oil and gas company, has a minority shareholding in the company.

Overview
The company is known for 100 per cent renewable electricity and carbon offset gas. It offers one tariff to customers on either a single fuel (electricity) or dual fuel (gas and electricity) basis. The company’s claim of 100 per cent carbon offset gas has been certified by Ofgem.

Pure Planet have been supplying renewable gas and electricity since May 2017 and is one of the smaller suppliers in the UK energy market which is dominated by larger companies such as the [(Big Six Energy Suppliers)].

Founders
Pure Planet was founded by Andrew Ralston, Chris Alliott, Steven Day andTom Alexander, a team of entrepreneurs with a background in telecommunications. The team were responsible for the launch of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile in 1999. For their running of the company, The Telegraph credited the team, in particular, Tom Alexander - who was the chief executive officer at Virgin Mobile - with ‘democratising’ the mobile phone sector. The team went on to run Orange which they merged with T-Mobile in 2009 to form EE in 2012.

In 2017 Steven Day gave a TED Talk at TEDx Brighton called 'One Lonely Thought' the subject of whether Britain could become a carbon-neutral country by adopting renewable energy.

Energy
The electricity Pure Planet supplies comes from renewable sources. The gas Pure Planet sources is from the National Grid (Great Britain) and is then carbon-offset. The National Grid delivers energy to over 23 million customers and is an electric power transmission network that covers the majority of Great Britain.

Energy market competition
The entry of Pure Planet into the UK supply market in 2017 was welcomed as it increased competition in a market that had been criticised for high prices.

In 2017 co-founder Andrew Ralston, Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Andrew Ralston said: “The way to bring about a much needed modernisation of the industry is to allow new companies with fresh ideas to flourish in a free market."

In February 2019, Ofgem announced an increase in the energy price cap, which is set twice a year. The increase affects 11 million UK households on duel-fuel standard variable tariffs and it comes into effect on the 1st of April.

Only 15 out of the 190 tariffs on the market are under £1,000. These include tariffs from Utility Point, iSupply Energy and Pure Planet.