Electricity wholesale cost

Experttwiddly

I’m currently with outfoxthemarket (since 2018) who have been very good with their service and prices. They market themselves as providers of 100% renewable electricity which is one of the main reasons we have stuck with them. 

Here’s the kicker - the cost to produce renewable energy hasn’t really changed much as far as my research has brought up yet the cost of our electricity has gone up by 50% per kWh and on the standing charge with a variable tariff, yet still comes from a renewable source. Upon reviewing the FAQs on the provider website it states the wholesale price of all electricity is the same irrespective of where it comes from. That just sounds like a farce to me and simply a way for wholesale suppliers to make significant amounts of money at the expense of the consumer. What is the govt doing to incentivise both the wholesale market and consumers to use more renewable sources and keep costs down on those sources of energy?

Getting solar panels and a battery just sounds more appealing as the months go on. 

Effician

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6351440/getting-really-annoyed-with-the-we-use-100-renewable-taglines-on-our-electricity-bills#latest

[Deleted User]

Experttwiddly said:

I’m currently with outfoxthemarket (since 2018) who have been very good with their service and prices. They market themselves as providers of 100% renewable electricity which is one of the main reasons we have stuck with them. 

Here’s the kicker - the cost to produce renewable energy hasn’t really changed much as far as my research has brought up yet the cost of our electricity has gone up by 50% per kWh and on the standing charge with a variable tariff, yet still comes from a renewable source. Upon reviewing the FAQs on the provider website it states the wholesale price of all electricity is the same irrespective of where it comes from. That just sounds like a farce to me and simply a way for wholesale suppliers to make significant amounts of money at the expense of the consumer. What is the govt doing to incentivise both the wholesale market and consumers to use more renewable sources and keep costs down on those sources of energy?

Getting solar panels and a battery just sounds more appealing as the months go on. 

OFTM is not a 100% renewable energy supplier.  Renewable energy requires a lot of forward investment that has to be recovered. The price of electricity is based on the price of the gas used to produce it. As I post, 50% of our electricity is coming from gas generators. Solar and wind account for less than 25%. You might be better off writing to your MP.

The REGO certificate scheme is not without its critics, whose main bone to pick with it is that the certificates can be bought - and cheaply. A supplier is able to buy REGO certificates separately from the energy itself, with enough to power a typical household’s energy for a whole year costing just 50p.

This makes it easy for suppliers to buy away consumers’ environmental guilt and claim to offer 100% green electricity. In reality, many providers simply engage in REGO certificate trading, buying enough certificates to match the energy you use but actually getting the power from the cheapest possible source - be it coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, or wherever. This is sometimes also called greenwashing, and is increasingly common.