Should I get a price capped or green energy tariff? Article Discussion Area

cynic

Ecotricty are actually recommended by FOE approved website:
http://www.greenelectricity.org/tariffs.php

They told me last week that their current percentage of renewable energy is currently 27% (it was previously 17.4% from Apr 04 - Apr 05). While this isn't as high as the 100% chaps that's not the point of signing up with these guys. It is also quite a bit higher than many green tarriffs and importantly is growing.

Having said that I know nothing about their customer service and agree that cos they only match standard regional rates there is some juice left on table

I think using Tesco style aggressive lawyers to force building of wind turbines actually sounds like a good idea. Climate change has moved on beyond any place where any of us can be NIMBYs anymore, sorry!

I similarly have no probs with someone earning £200k a year if they have set up their own innovative multimillion pound company. One cannot disinvent capitalism plus we sadly need the capitalists to get in on this big green idea

roger56

Discogod wrote:

yeah, i asked them to quote me & they basically said what is on their website for my area (east midlands). this is despite the fact i pay less than this as i'm currently with ebico.

For info, Ebico are at
http://www.ebico.co.uk/

If anyone is interested in being green, take a look at Ebico "equiclimate" here:
http://www.ebico.co.uk/equiclimate/equiclimate.htm

The idea is simple, basically they remove the EU CO2 trading allowances from circulation on your behalf:
http://www.ebico.co.uk/equiclimate/immediateaction.htm

Flurry

Powergen has just confirmed to me that the price increases for green tariffs were just as high as for non-green ones. That sounds to me like having your cake and eating it as far as the companies are concerned, as they charge more for the green tariffs in the first place but pass on the full cost of increases in non-green costs. Bah humbug!

boopybetty

Just a word of warning about switching to green energy tariffs. I switched my gas & elec to British Gas Green Click Enery tariff in Sept 06 (was originally on standard tariff), l am paying £40 a month for the gas, £25 for elec. I have just received notification that my monthly gas DD will be raised to £91 based on my monthly usage. I told them this was not acceptable and that if there was a debit when my bill was due, then l would pay it in total with my debit card there and then, as l had always done on the standard tariff, l was told this apparently can't be done with the green tariff, and that my only option is to go back to standard tariff or change supplier. Anyone else come across this?

kenlaing

I'm considering Green Energy schemes, but will the supplier actualy buy more Green Energy, or am I just helping them to meet existing commitments to buy a proportion of renewable energy ?

magyar

kenlaing wrote:

I'm considering Green Energy schemes, but will the supplier actualy buy more Green Energy, or am I just helping them to meet existing commitments to buy a proportion of renewable energy ?

It depends on the company. Here's a very quick (well, I'll try to be quick!) explanation of how it works:

Some electricity companies generate it themselves (like Powergen, Scottish Power or npower), and some will just buy it (like British Gas).

Every company who sells you energy has to source a certain amount of it from renewables sources e.g. wind, solar, small hydro-electric. Currently, that amount is about 7%, but it will rise as time goes on.

If they generate that 7% themselves, then great. If not, they have to 'buy' this amount from others. For example a small wind farm will not have any suppliers, so it can sell its share to a not-so-green company.

So since your electricity company has either generated, or bought, its share of green energy it can justifiably sell it on to you.

So if you really want to look at how ethical your green energy is, look at this: are more than 7% of their customers on a green tariff? If the answer is YES then this company is buying or generating MORE green energy than it is required to by law. If the answer is NO, then this might just mean they haven't marketed the product well enough, but equally you might think of looking elsewhere.

denimmaterial

We've been with Staywarm (Powergen) for six or seven years now, each year the price has gone up. The last hike was to £108 pm. as we were 'high users'. It looks as though they no longer base their rates on the no. of bedrooms and occupants as Martin pointed out in a previous newsletter. We are switching to British Gas before the next annual contract starts at the beginning of March and making considerable savings based on our previous year's usage.

energylinx_2

If you wanted to see exactly how green or otherwise any particular supplier is have a look at https://www.fuelmix.co.uk.

This site shows what is known as the fuel mix of every single supplier operating in the UK.

Do not use the site to transfer but instead use one of Martin's recommended sites.

energyman

energylinx wrote: »

If you wanted to see exactly how green or otherwise any particular supplier is have a look at https://www.fuelmix.co.uk.

This site shows what is known as the fuel mix of every single supplier operating in the UK.

Do not use the site to transfer but instead use one of Martin's recommended sites.

The above site is useful but let's be clear here - unless you have your own energy source, the electricity you get through your meter will result in the same amount of greenhouse gas and other emissions as everyone else. Your supplier is the one you pay the money to - the electricity that comes through the wires is no different if you have a green tariff. What you are doing if you opt for a green tariff is providing money to the supplier which you hope will lead to more renewable energy being produced. For example:

Ecotricity - claim to spend more money per customer on building new renewable sources than any other supplier. However, for every £1 you give to them, a proportion ulitmately goes to paying running costs of existing schemes, admin charges, charges for top up power (not produced by their own generation) and profit. Ecoctricity investment is however relatively small compared to that being put into some of the offshore windfarms.

Good Energy - claim to be the greenest supplier as all the electricity they supply comes from renewable sources. Well this is true in the fact that they buy from renewable generators the same amount of energy that they sell but this only supports existing generators and does not directly lead to new supplies. However, they do offer good rates to generators which may encourage more investment in new generation.

British Gas - they claim to have the lowest emissions of the main electricity suppliers (excludes ecotricity and good energy). However, this is just where they happen to buy their energy from and does not reflect their investment in new renewbale sources or a positive action on their part to buy more renewable energy.

Other suppliers such as scottish power and southern electrcity will put some of the money you give to them into a fund to support projects - however the projects tend to have a general 'environmental' theme and not purely renewable energy investment.

Overall if you want to help reduce greenhouse emissions, the most effective way would be to find the cheapest supplier and spend the money saved on reducing your own energy consumption (more insulation, energy saving lightbulbs etc.)! If you really want to have a green tariff then on balance I would go for ecotricity.

darrenalexander

Hi All, I am going to start to work from home so I am think of changing my supplier and Tariff, but I cant find the tariff's/rates on the suppliers websites.

a few years ago, british gas had economy 7, nite rates and a few others but I cant find any of theses.

I want to know basically how much an hour each supplier charges.

Is there a way to find these tarrifs?