The UK and the state of California in the U.S. are going to speed up their collaboration when it comes to clean energy investment. This development comes to light as Ed Miliband, the UK Energy Secretary, and Gavin Newsom, the California Governor, inked a new collaboration so as to accelerate the worldwide race when it comes to clean power and also take up the challenge pertaining to the climate and nature crisis.
The MoU, which has been inked on February 16, 2026, goes on to deepen decades of cooperation between both the UK as well as California, and also in a way, develops quite a refreshed framework in order to drive innovation, scale the clean energy technologies, and also connect businesses as well as researchers throughout both economies.
Apparently, this agreement is going to connect the fast-growing clean energy sector of the UK along with the Californian market, hence in a way opening up new export options, supporting opportunities related to skilled jobs in the UK, and also backing British businesses to go ahead and compete as well as grow, with companies such as Octopus Energy already going ahead and expanding on the U.S. West Coast.
All these steps also deliver a commitment in order to strengthen the cooperation on clean energy investment and climate and, along with it, the environment in order to speed up the deployment of tech that slashes bills for families, decreases exposure when it comes to volatile fossil fuel markets, and also safeguards the natural environment. This, as a matter of fact, builds on other MoUs that have been inked by the UK focused on economic cooperation along with 11 other US states, which include the likes of Washington and Florida.
Interestingly, this collaboration is also going to see both governments share their practical expertise in terms of protecting their biodiversity and also building resilience for their respective communities in the advent of extreme weather. All this is going to enable the protection of homes along with public services as well as local economies from the climate crisis.
One cannot deny the fact that both the UK and California clean energy economies are indeed growing at a swift pace, with the net zero economy of the UK growing almost three times faster as compared to the overall UK economy in 2024, as per the CBI. On the other hand, California has seen similar accelerated clean economic growth, having three times more clean energy jobs that have been created as compared to the jobs created elsewhere in the economy of the state.
Ed Miliband, the UK Energy Secretary, said, “This government’s clean energy mission is about taking back control of our energy to cut bills, create jobs, and tackle the climate crisis. Strong international partnerships like today’s announcement with the State of California strengthen opportunities for UK businesses and secure investment for our country.”
Governor Gavin Newsom remarked, “California is the best place in America to invest in a clean economy because we set clear goals and we deliver. Today, we deepened our partnership with the United Kingdom on climate action and welcomed nearly a billion dollars in clean tech investment from Octopus Energy. California will continue showing the world how we can turn innovation and ambition into climate action.”
Both the UK as well as California happen to share equally ambitious energy and climate objectives and also have a history of partnership pertaining to policy in this space.
There are businesses that have backed the agreement, underscoring the prominent growth opportunities that are going to be created.
Nick Chaset, CEO at Octopus Energy US, said, “As a British tech business and investor growing in the US, this MoU opens up opportunities to bring our smart technology to California, cutting energy bills and improving the customer experience. We are already delivering that through our work with Southern California Edison, where the Octopus Shift app enables EVs and home batteries to support the grid and give customers more control over when and how they use energy.” He further added that “This agreement gives investors like Octopus greater confidence to bring more of our proven technology to the state, like Octopus Electroverse. Already the world’s largest public charging platform, live across 1.3 million chargers in 50 countries. It is exactly the kind of customer-first innovation we are excited to scale through closer UK-California collaboration.”
