A
number of electricity suppliers offer “green tariffs”
which mean, in theory, you’re paying for them to produce green
electricity.
However, not every tariff is as green as it claims. By law all electricity
suppliers have to get a small percentage of their power from
renewable or green sources – and this amount is set to rise to
annually to 15% in 2015. While this sounds like a good idea an
unfortunate consequence is that signing up to any old “green
tariff” might mean that you’re paying a premium for green
electricity that they’d have to produce anyway. The National
Consumer Council
recently reported that consumers were “being
misled”
by some of the power companies over “green tariffs.”
A
real green tariff will mean that you’re helping more
green electricity get produced – by companies investing in
more renewable energy projects. Both
Friends
of the Earth
(FoE) and Ethical
Consumer have recommended three suppliers:
Of
all the suppliers Good Energy gets Ethical Consumer’s best
rating. The
National Consumer Council said,“For
those consumers who want a green electricity supply, pure and simple,
this is probably the closest they will get to it.”
Ethical
Consumer also recommends Eco
Energy
(0845 745 5455) for those in Northern Ireland and both Friends
of the Earth
and the National
Consumer Council
have recommended Scottish
& Southern's RSPB tariff for its green credentials.
You
can get up to date ethical ratings for green electricity providers on www.ethiscore.org
- Ethical Consumer's on-line shopping guide
For a full listing of UK green tariffs visit Green
Electricity Marketplace
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