My energy switch fun

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I finally got round to addressing my energy providers yesterday - perhaps all the headlines on energy bills infected my subconscious. I'm currently on what is claimed to be a 'green' dual energy (electricity and gas) service but scratch beneath the surface and the facts don't fully bear out the claims. So there's the inevitable few hours of searching around comparison sites and the utility providers' own sites, to discover that... there really ain't much out there.

I'm fairly hopeless at this type of stuff (there was a concerned silence on the phone when I informed my wife of my quest) so would not swear that my research was in any way conclusive. Inevitably in an emerging service finding a straight answer can often be half the challenge. Which is why energy regulator OFGEM's report on imminent guidance on green supply should at least be a start in helping out consumers find their way through the fog. Although one of the new breed of renewable suppliers, Ecotricity, had a pop at this claiming the guidance completely ignores renewable supply. ".. instead all they (consumers) can get are 'green' tariffs where trees get planted and carbon gets offset - cuddly, stupid, off message and pointless 'green' tariffs," thundered Dale Vince, the firm's managing director in a press release.

What is on offer out there, barring one or two truly renewable providers, does still comes down largely to offsets as Vince put it so strongly. Given the overall provision of UK energy supply that's not much of a surprise. For the record I ended up plumping for Good Energy for my electricity, given it's 100% renewable, and have been forced to compromise on the gas side in terms of what is the 'greenest' package - often this was down to inflexibility on the part of the big boys. To take up their all-new 'zero carbon' packages you needed to sign up to dual supply packages.

Comments

[ecotricity]

Hi Phil,

I got this on a google alert. I am wondering what the thought process was when you decided to go for Good Energy over Ecotricity?

You may be interested to know that Dale posted on his blog about this kind of thing recently.

http://zerocarbonista.com/2008/05/12/does-good-energy-cause-new-generation-to-be-built/

Cheers
Paul

[Phil Clark]

Thanks for your comment Paul. I went on amount of renewables, but from the link you have sent there is more to the argument than that. I carried out an hour or so's research on the decision so probably skirted around some of the arguments on this. This in some way underlines my point about customer decisions.

[ecotricity]

Hiya Phil,

Hmm.. that was my worry. I am part of the webteam, but my 'social networking' stuff overlaps with 'marketing'... I get to see what people are saying out in the blogosphere and elsewhere - and I also get to hear what the marketing team are cooking up here.

It's too complicated isn't it? The whole thing is just too much - even for the most inquisitive and dedicated shade of green consumer like yourself. What hope is there of standing up to the big 6 in a significant way!

But I wonder how are we supposed to simplify it further than "we invest more in new green build per customer than *all* the other suppliers put together"

Ecotricity build farms... there is finite renewables capacity and it is in high demand (this will keep the green prices up!), so unless companies build more renewables...

Well - I won't go on... I think you know where I am going... I am only repeating what Dale said anyway...

If you (or any of your readers) have any further thoughts - I would love to hear them!

Cheers
Paul

[Andrew]

Imagine I am joe bloggs, your average consumer. I've heard about climate change and melting ice caps in the news and am a bit worried about it. I'm also worried about how much money is in my pocket, but I'd like to do my bit and "go green". So I've decided to switch my supply to a green energy tariff.

Ooh that's lucky, my supplier just sent me a flier telling me how I can go green and switch to their renewable energy supply. I ring up and go on their green tariff. Wow that was easy wasn't it. I can pat myself on the back knowing I'm doing the right thing.

Isn't this how most people will think/act? What's needed is a way for consumers to differentiate between the light and deep green options.

[ecotricity]

Cheers Andrew - you are right of course... trouble is that OFGEM have failed to do exactly that with their green tariff guidelines as Phil mentioned above...