Skip to main content
Energy Review

Octopus Energy · Export tariff · VAT included

Outgoing Octopus prices

What Octopus pays for electricity you export, fixed or half-hourly.

Electricity prices differ by distribution region, so this changes every figure below.

Your postcode is sent once to Octopus Energy’s public region lookup — the same one they bill from. We do not put it in the URL, analytics or database, and do not keep it.

Outgoing Octopus is an export tariff: the figures on this page are payments to you, not costs. It is what Octopus pays for electricity you send back to the grid.

There are two shapes. A flat variable rate pays the same whenever you export, and the half-hourly Agile Outgoing variant shown here follows the same day-ahead wholesale prices as Agile import — so it pays most when the grid most needs power.

Showing Southern England. Currently on sale: Agile Outgoing Octopus. Tariff code E-1R-AGILE-OUTGOING-19-05-13-H.

Average today
9.44p

weighted by how long each price lasts

Cheapest today
0.69p
Most expensive today
19.52p
Standing charge
0.00p

per day

Today’s prices

Show all 46 prices as a table
today half-hourly prices, pence per kWh
FromPence per kWh
00:0012.96p
00:3012.59p
01:0012.29p
01:3012.39p
02:0012.27p
02:3011.79p
03:0011.58p
03:3011.17p
04:0011.94p
04:3011.59p
05:0012.54p
05:3012.52p
06:0011.78p
06:3012.48p
07:0011.93p
07:3012.04p
08:0010.00p
08:309.65p
09:006.78p
09:304.84p
10:001.99p
10:301.13p
11:001.01p
11:300.88p
12:000.76p
12:300.76p
13:000.69p
13:300.70p
14:000.71p
14:300.76p
15:000.76p
15:300.76p
16:009.66p
16:3012.17p
17:0016.11p
17:3017.07p
18:0018.34p
18:3019.52p
19:0013.12p
19:3013.23p
20:0013.15p
20:3013.09p
21:0013.38p
21:3013.24p
22:0013.24p
22:3012.74p

Tomorrow’s prices have not been published yet. They usually appear in the late afternoon.

When to export

  • Best-paid 3-hour run starts 17:00, averaging 16.23p per kWh.
  • Best-paid half hour today is 18:30 at 19.52p.
  • Worst-paid is 13:00 at 0.69p, so it is worth holding generation back if you can.

Against the price cap in Southern England

The Ofgem cap for a single-rate direct debit meter here is 26.42p per kWh plus 49.70p a day. Today this tariff averaged 16.98p below the cap unit rate.

This compares one day’s unit rates only. What you pay also depends on the standing charge and on when you use electricity, so treat this as an indication rather than a saving. Cap period 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30.

Estimated annual earnings

£312a year

2,500 kWh a year in Southern England, at 12.49p per kWh plus 0.00p a day standing charge.

Our estimate, using the average price Outgoing Octopus actually charged over the last 29 days. Outgoing Octopus prices change through the day, so what you pay depends on when you use electricity — this assumes you use it at the same times as an average household.

Octopus Energy quotes £501 for the same household. Their figure charges every unit at the tariff’s standard rate of 19.09p, which is what you would pay having shifted nothing at all. Treat it as a ceiling rather than an expectation.

Price history

The line is the average price for each day; the shaded band is the cheapest and most expensive price within it.

1 of 30 periods are only partly covered by stored prices and are shown as they are rather than filled in.

Show these 30 figures as a table
Last 30 days average, cheapest and most expensive prices, pence per kWh
PeriodAverageCheapestMost expensive
06 Jul10.08p2.90p17.84p
07 Jul11.36p8.45p18.32p
08 Jul12.25p9.06p20.37p
09 Jul13.44p9.11p22.55p
10 Jul12.82p10.14p20.72p
11 Jul12.21p8.95p20.38p
12 Jul8.42p1.41p18.13p
13 Jul12.05p8.10p19.91p
14 Jul12.63p9.35p21.01p
15 Jul13.33p9.39p21.80p
16 Jul14.50p9.95p26.22p
17 Jul13.39p10.27p20.78p
18 Jul10.82p3.82p19.02p
19 Jul10.38p6.03p19.73p
20 Jul14.03p11.30p22.65p
21 Jul13.38p10.80p20.97p
22 Jul13.75p11.36p21.78p
23 Jul14.75p12.02p23.02p
24 Jul13.11p7.23p22.27p
25 Jul8.86p0.00p21.00p
26 Jul8.95p0.17p19.56p
27 Jul13.12p8.45p21.50p
28 Jul13.22p7.98p23.21p
29 Jul13.87p10.61p24.69p
30 Jul13.44p8.36p22.58p
31 Jul14.00p10.66p21.70p
01 Aug12.22p4.82p21.37p
02 Aug13.89p10.97p22.30p
03 Aug13.96p10.59p23.79p
04 Aug13.71p11.05p21.56p

Prices by region

Outgoing Octopus unit rate by region

The average price per unit on 2026-08-03. Where you live changes what you pay, because the cost of distributing electricity differs by network.

Hover a region for its figure, or select one to load its prices.

Tap a region to load its prices.

Eastern England14.25pEast Midlands13.72pLondon14.32pMerseyside and North Wales14.54pWest Midlands13.73pNorth East England13.76pNorth West England14.25pSouthern England13.96pSouth East England14.17pSouth Wales13.80pSouth West England13.74pYorkshire13.85pSouthern Scotland13.92pNorthern Scotland14.10p
Outgoing Octopus unit rate by region. East Midlands is cheapest at 13.72p; Merseyside and North Wales is dearest at 14.54p. Full figures follow in the table below.Eastern England: 14.25pEast Midlands: 13.72pLondon: 14.32pMerseyside and North Wales: 14.54pWest Midlands: 13.73pNorth East England: 13.76pNorth West England: 14.25pSouth East England: 14.17pSouth Wales: 13.80pSouth West England: 13.74pYorkshire: 13.85pSouthern Scotland: 13.92pNorthern Scotland: 14.10pSouthern England: 13.96p
13.72p14.54p
Outgoing Octopus unit rate by region, by region
RegionPer kWh
East Midlands13.72p
West Midlands13.73p
South West England13.74p
North East England13.76p
South Wales13.80p
Yorkshire13.85p
Southern Scotland13.92p
Southern England13.96p
Northern Scotland14.10p
South East England14.17p
North West England14.25p
Eastern England14.25p
London14.32p
Merseyside and North Wales14.54p

Northern Ireland has a separate electricity market and is not covered by these regions.

Outgoing Octopus standing charge by region

The daily charge you pay before using any electricity at all. It varies more between regions than the unit rate does, and you cannot avoid it by using less.

Hover a region for its figure, or select one to load its prices.

Tap a region to load its prices.

Eastern England0.0pEast Midlands0.0pLondon0.0pMerseyside and North Wales0.0pWest Midlands0.0pNorth East England0.0pNorth West England0.0pSouthern England0.0pSouth East England0.0pSouth Wales0.0pSouth West England0.0pYorkshire0.0pSouthern Scotland0.0pNorthern Scotland0.0p
Outgoing Octopus standing charge by region. Eastern England is cheapest at 0.0p; Eastern England is dearest at 0.0p. Full figures follow in the table below.Eastern England: 0.0pEast Midlands: 0.0pLondon: 0.0pMerseyside and North Wales: 0.0pWest Midlands: 0.0pNorth East England: 0.0pNorth West England: 0.0pSouth East England: 0.0pSouth Wales: 0.0pSouth West England: 0.0pYorkshire: 0.0pSouthern Scotland: 0.0pNorthern Scotland: 0.0pSouthern England: 0.0p

Northern Ireland has a separate electricity market and is not covered by these regions.

Estimate what you would be paid

Enter a number of kWh to see what it would earnat today’s average price.

How Outgoing Octopus works

Every unit you export is metered and paid at the rate in force for that period. On the half-hourly variant that rate changes every 30 minutes, published a day ahead like Agile.

The half-hourly variant rewards exporting at the right time, which in practice means having a battery. Solar alone generates at midday, which is rarely when export pays best.

You can be on an export tariff with a different supplier from your import tariff, though keeping both with one supplier is simpler administratively.

What you need

  • Generation — usually solar — with an export meter arrangement (MPAN) in place
  • A smart meter capable of recording export on a half-hourly basis
  • For the half-hourly variant, ideally a battery so export can be timed

What drives what you earn

  • How much you generate beyond what you use yourself, since self-consumption avoids import rather than earning export
  • Whether you can time export into the better-paid periods
  • The season — summer generation is far higher, but so is everyone else’s, which affects prices
  • Which variant you are on: flat pays predictably, half-hourly pays variably

Who it tends to suit

  • Homes generating more than they use, especially in summer
  • Exporters who can time output and want the half-hourly variant
  • Households with a battery that can hold generation until export pays best

Who it tends not to suit

  • Homes that consume nearly all of what they generate
  • Anyone without an export meter arrangement in place
  • Solar-only homes expecting the half-hourly variant to beat a flat rate

Things to watch

  • Using your own generation is usually worth more than exporting it, because you avoid paying an import rate that is higher than the export rate.
  • Without a battery, the half-hourly variant pays whatever the rate happens to be at midday, which is often not the peak.
  • Export payments are usually smaller than people expect compared with their bill. Treat this as a top-up rather than a replacement for it.

Outgoing Octopus compared with the alternatives

Against The Smart Export Guarantee
SEG is the statutory minimum every large supplier must offer. Outgoing is Octopus’s commercial offer and has generally paid better than a basic SEG rate, but SEG tariffs vary and are worth comparing directly.
Against Octopus Flux export
Flux export is banded and pairs with a matching import tariff, which is what makes the battery arbitrage work. Outgoing is a standalone export tariff you can hold alongside a different import tariff.
Against The flat Outgoing variant
The flat rate pays the same whenever you export, which suits solar without storage. The half-hourly variant shown here pays more if you can time export, and can pay less if you cannot.

How to switch to Outgoing Octopus

  1. You need generation — usually solar — with an export meter arrangement (an export MPAN) registered, and a smart meter able to record export half-hourly.
  2. Outgoing sits alongside whichever import tariff you are on, so taking it does not change what you pay for the electricity you buy.
  3. Requested from the online account. No exit fees, and you can move between the half-hourly and flat versions.

Our verdict on Outgoing Octopus

Outgoing pays the wholesale rate for what you export, half hour by half hour. On a still winter evening that is several times what a flat export tariff pays, which is why it rewards anyone who can hold generation back and release it into the peak.

Without a battery you export when the sun shines, which is exactly when everyone else does and prices are lowest. Solar on its own is usually better off on a flat export rate, where the price is lower but certain.

In its favour

  • Export rates that follow the market, and peak well above flat rates
  • Pairs with any import tariff
  • No exit fees
  • Rewards a battery directly

Against it

  • Export earnings vary and cannot be budgeted for
  • Little benefit without storage
  • Needs an export MPAN and a half-hourly capable meter
  • Midday export, when solar peaks, pays least

Frequently asked questions

Are these figures payments or charges?

Payments. This is an export tariff, so the prices shown are what Octopus pays you per kWh exported, not what you are charged.

Do I need a battery for Outgoing Octopus?

Not for the flat variant. For the half-hourly one a battery makes a substantial difference, because it lets you export when rates are high rather than whenever the sun happens to be out.

Can I be on Outgoing without taking my import from Octopus?

Yes, export and import can be with different suppliers, though keeping both together is administratively simpler.

Is exporting better than using my own electricity?

Usually not. Import rates are typically higher than export rates, so using your own generation avoids more than exporting it earns. Exporting is what you do with whatever is left over.

Source: Octopus EnergyOctopus Energy public API tariff rates. Last retrieved 4 Aug 2026, 18:46.