For Immediate Release:
Newcastle, U.K., 14 October 2025 – The former U.K. Energy Minister and Chair of the U.K.’s Net Zero Review Chris Skidmore has launched a new campaign to save the equivalent of one million homes worth of electricity- to demonstrate how net zero isn’t a cost but can reduce people’s energy bills through better use of ‘smart energy’ software that uses latest AI technology to monitor and optimise electricity use – reducing bills by up to 40%.
The campaign was launched alongside QGEMS, a distributed energy management software provider, who create “virtual power plants” that can network properties to optimise their use of energy at the best time, at their offices in Newcastle. The campaign will seek to establish also a new hub in the North East to bring property owners together across residential, commercial and public buildings to deliver electricity savings.
The One Million Homes initiative will now host regional events and round tables across the country to bring potential partners together to make the one million homes saving. This is the equivalent of 1 GW hour of electricity or the equivalent of Hornsea 1 wind farm. The campaign will also be engaging and working alongside key property landowners and organisations focused on the built environment.
In his Newcastle launch speech (full copy attached) Chris Skidmore highlighted how existing buildings can be used to reduce energy costs and ultimately customer’s bills.
Chris Skidmore said:
“We need for energy demand that same sense of mission that we now have for clean power by 2030. In the Net Zero Review, Mission Zero Report, I set out ten missions that could be focused upon to help deliver the government’s commitments. Yet with the new technology and growth in capability we now have through the generation of AI and optimisation software, we should be adding an extra mission to these, one that can sit alongside the clean power mission for 2030, that can make a real difference, a real discernable change before 2030- proving the case that the energy transition is making lives better and saving money.
I want to help shape a new mission that we can all deliver, one that can clearly highlight the continued potential of flexibility and optimisation to ensure that we can find energy savings within our existing systems, whether those are across residential, commercial, industrial properties, or across council and government owned public buildings. All have the potential to be not just users of energy, but owners of energy. Making the most of the assets that we already have, the buildings that we live and work in, to turn these into revenue generators, traders of electricity, not merely purchasers. The greatest empowerment opportunity of our generation.
We need a mission for the energy transition that is going to give back to people: to show them how they can directly benefit. Highlighting how technology can reduce their costs, demonstrating how savings can be made, will be vital to that vision.
Today, I want to announce that together with QGEMS, we are launching a new initiative, ‘One Million Homes’, to identify and ultimately realise across the built environment sectors mentioned, how we can find and deliver one million homes worth of electricity in savings and optimisation before 2030, the equivalent of 1 gigawatt hour of electricity or Hornsea 1 wind farm.
The journey to reach the One Million Homes mission starts today. It is a mission that I hope we can gather further backing: the technology is ready to go, the savings are ready to be made. All that is needed is willing and supportive partners to get onboard.
As part of the mission, I will be hosting roundtables across the country to build the coalition across other organisations and partners willing to get involved. We are keen to work with those willing to join the mission, to strike up partnerships and pilots with QGEMS, to see what might be possible, and to start delivering the benefits that optimisation and AI can bring at scale to their organisations or properties.”
Gordon Winston said:
“QGEMS views finance, inventive capital, energy, and technology as a single, connected ecosystem with the trust, capability, and scale that can power the UK transition to net zero. In creating the Internet of Energy, QGEMS combines the traditional and digital grids with the open energy markets to deliver the digital energy ecosystem and direct capital to what matters. Chris Skidmore’s transition finance and net-zero frameworks set the global benchmark for a sustainable future. I am proud to stand alongside Chris, policymakers, investors, and innovators to turn these ambitions into delivery. ”
About Chris Skidmore
Chris Skidmore was the UK’s Cabinet Minister for Energy who signed the UK’s net zero commitment into law in 2019- becoming the first G7 country to do so. He was also Chair of the Net Zero Review and published the influential Mission Zero rekey in 2023. He is now Chair of the Policy Group of the U.K. Transition Finance Council.
About QGEMS
QGEMS pioneers’ intelligent energy systems through AI-enabled orchestration, validation, and simulation. Its Energy Resource Planning, Management, and Optimization (ERPMO) platform integrates and aggregates distributed energy assets, intelligently orchestrated with the grid to create a Hypergrid enhancing resilience, flexibility, and cost efficiency. Partnering with system operators, local authorities, research institutions, and financial institutions, QGEMS is building a decarbonised, decentralised, and democratised energy future.
QGEMS Digital Energy Ecosystem connects consumers (including C&I), investors, and grid operators in a unified framework. This ecosystem ensures that every participant, from households and communities to institutional investors and system operators, benefits from verifiable data, optimised performance, and transparent value creation across the entire energy chain.
QGEMS Energy Ltd., headquartered in Newcastle, operates nationally across the UK with international expansion well under way.
Media Enquiries:
QGEMS
Email: gcohen@qgems.energy
Phone: +44 (0)191 743 1122 Ext. 1006
Website: www.qgems.energy
Rt Hon Chris Skidmore and QGEMS CEO Gordon Winston at QGEMS Research and Development Facility in Newcastle upon Tyne during the launch of the One Million Homes initiative to save the energy of 1 million homes through AI software by 2030.
Rt. Hon. Chris Skidmore speaking at QGEMS in Newcastle at the launch of the One Million Homes initiative to save the energy of 1 million homes through AI software by 2030.
