People are still confused by their energy bills, and with the ‘Big Six’ scoring 50% or less for customer satisfaction, there’s a distrust around the energy industry. Tempus promises to lower bills by managing your appliances, but will people allow an energy company to control their dishwasher?

There is no such thing as a beloved energy provider. In Australia, where a record-breaking summer heatwave (and a reliance on air-con) is pushing up prices, 1.4 million people are currently looking to make the switch, even though nearly 30% of those already changed supplier in the last year.

Utilities companies generally get a bad rap – only a third of Americans say they trust them. But Drift is looking to improve people’s satisfation with these services by offering cheaper energy, cutting out the middleman and being fully transparent about power usage.

People loathe energy companies; only one in six Brits trusts them to work in their best interests. And yet, as smart meters become the norm, customers are choosing tariffs that give them less control, handing the reigns back to the providers. So what’s going on?