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

penrhyn

Try energy helpline, you can click on the suppliers name to see their rates.

Let the site do the work, no need to do the numbers yourself.

http://www.energyhelpline.com/energy/rg_home.aspx?aid=102

beach86

Green energy tariffs from fuel suppliers may not be as green as you think. You going for one of these tariffs doesn’t mean your money is going to investment in RE. Fuel suppliers are obliged under law to provide a certain % of electricity from RE sources anyway therefore is your money really helping???

The two best companies to go for are Ecotricity and Good Energy. Personally I found Ecotricity to be the best in terms of greenness.

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/

http://www.good-energy.co.uk/

As always compare the prices so that you get the best deal!!! There’s loads of information that compares the various available green tariffs and more information on the fuel suppliers ‘Renewables Obligation’ at http://www.greenelectricity.org/

chriserenity

Have you guys come across this site?:

http://www.electricityinfo.org/index.html

It breaks down the fuel mix of the main energy suppliers. According to the site, Good Energy is the best for renewables while Green Energy is an oxymoron!

magyar

The problem is that the sites you're describing use percentages and not absolutes. As beach86 says, there is an obligation there, but what does that mean...?

It means they have to submit one Renewables Obligation Certificate for every unit of electricity they generate. A green power plant (a wind farm, for example) is granted one ROC for every unit it generates. So the utilities can either generate this themselves, or buy it from another company (an example here is that lots of small companies own wind farms and sell the power to larger utilities). Alternatively they can pay a buy-out penalty.

But this leads to some confusing results.

Good Energy does indeed have 100% green energy, in other words it owns some wind farms and sells that power to people directly, and makes up the rest by buying green energy from other suppliers. But its total amount of generation and supply is TINY. There is no way they could support many more customers than they have without resorting to selling 'brown' energy (or paying through the nose).

npower, for example, does poorly in this comparison, with only 3% green energy. Yet it has over 400 MW of wind power which is nearly 20% of the UK's capacity and has recently announced plans to invest €1bn/year in Renewables across Europe. With the best will in the world, Good Energy will never come anywhere close to this.

I'm not suggesting people should switch from Good Energy to npower, far from it - Good Energy are a superb company with a fabulous niche product. I just want to point out it's more complex than people think...

Terrylw1

Well said Magyar.

Could always put some back as well with solar.

Mum_of_3_3

Just wanted to say to anyone thinking of switching to Good Energy, I've been with tem for about 3 or 4 years now and I've never had any billing/payment problems with them.

They are always friendly when you phone to adjust estimated bills and I would wholeheartedly reccommend them to anyone.

M-o_3

kirk1690

im beginning to think standard online pricing is the way to go ,too many fixed and capped deals are loaded with hidden charges and small print.

becs

Hi I have just stumbled accross this website www.greenenergyswitch.com it was in my local paper last week in peterborough, seems to be only set up for this area at the minute though.

Has some green supply companies on there, one of which was cheaper than my current company. it also had some useful information on the energy mix of the fuel supplpiers.

Perhaps worth a look had some other green info on there too.

Becs

pennyshahin_2

Not sure if to change to capped or not currently pay about £500 a year with npower dual fuel looked at comparision site (energy helpline)which would be £43 more a year at the moment , but will it be better in the long run ?:rolleyes:

chris_at_conscience

i found this interesting deal for Ecotricity - a special promotion via a website. You get £25 pounds off your bill when you sign up via the Ecotube Website. Prices are comparable to your local supplier and also green energy reduces your carbon footprint.

http://www.eco-tube.com/v/FREEBIES/Ecotricity_-_Free_Electricity.aspx