Advice Needed - Green Electricity Tariffs

[RayB]

Hi All,

Our current 2 year contract for electricity supply is up next month - and running a print works we use quite a bit of it (about £8000 per annum)

Has anybody looked into/switched over to a green electricity tariff?

I want to go down this route so if anyone can give me some tips on where to start I would be most grateful :)

[andysv1k]

Presumably you are on a 3 phase supply?

Not sure if commercial contracts are the same as domestic and whether you can still go for a green tarrif.

Have you spoken to your existing supplier? That would be my first point of call.

Andy.

[RayB]

Hi Andy, Thanks for that.

Yes it is a 3-phase supply BTW

[Rhyl Lightworks]

A few years ago Friends of the Earth recommended the 'juice' tariff offered by Npower - the first such one available in this country - although at the time it was only available to domestic customers. They stopped recommending it when other power companies jumped on the bandwagon, and, as in other areas, I suspect the word 'green' is now used more as a marketing ploy than a genuine attempt to use green electricity.
Greenpeace will not now recommend anybody - see http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/choose_green_energy/
These advertise a green tariff, in which you pay more for green electricity:
http://www.edfenergy.com/edf-energy/showPage.do?name=homeenergy.switchBrand.green.til
I don't know if it's open to business customers, or whether people are prepared to pay more for 'greener' electricity.
Barrie

[Danny Zedeela]

For businesses, there's a company that compares all tariffs across the whole market and gives you the best options over the phone. They'll also do the donkey work if you don't know when your current contract ends - 'Make It Cheaper' 0800 970 0077

[nancy_18am]

what is green electricity tarrifs?

[Rhyl Lightworks]

what is green electricity tarrifs?

One in which a substantial proportion of the electricity used is guaranteed to be generated from renewable sources.

Barrie

[gillyfleur]

Have you checked the small print of your current contract ? a lot of power suppliers automatically renew your contract unless you give 90 days written notice you won't be renewing - and it has to be 90 days or more - 89 days will lock you back in ! You might be too late !:eek:

[green.jeni]

I use Good Energy they seem like a true green company and worth a look at

[seancollier]

I usually recommend Good Energy as they do exactly what they say on the tin.

Good Energy link (http://www.goodenergy.co.uk/affiliates/access-renewables)

[lightbeing creations]

While Good Energy as, erm good... I went with Ecotricity as they are actually building new renewable capacity, in fact more than all the other suppliers put together!

[which]

Unless you've got your own solar or wind generator.I find it hard to believe if any power is "green" Unless they've devised a way of keeping it seperate from non green as its piped to you.

[KidsBeeHappy]

Can you instal your own windmill? There must be quite a good bit of seabreeze down your way, and there are lots of grants around for this.

[lightbeing creations]

Unless you've got your own solar or wind generator.I find it hard to believe if any power is "green" Unless they've devised a way of keeping it seperate from non green as its piped to you.
You're right, as soon as you connect onto the national grid there's huge wastage due to loss of transporting the energy along cables. If you are getting energy via the grid, then at least people have the option of greener solutions, Ecotricity being the best of them IMO, because they are building new wind powered capacity, which is far from the case with virtually all other companies.

Unfortunately, as is often the case in the green arena, it's far too easy for a company to make green claims, when all they are doing is paying into a tree planting scheme or such like, rather than actually taking steps to change the way they operate.

Absolutely, the best solution is to have your own small scale local means of production. Which makes it madness that all new buildings aren't required to have their own means of producing energy.

[Rhyl Lightworks]

Unless you've got your own solar or wind generator.I find it hard to believe if any power is "green" Unless they've devised a way of keeping it seperate from non green as its piped to you.

Electricity is the same no matter how it's generated. The energy companies would claim (not me I hasten to add) that it is the proportion of their generation which comes from renewable sources that makes them 'greener' or less green than others.

Barrie

[which]

Spot on Barrie, the only green thing in this is the money the Gen Co's are counting from clever marketing.

[Shaun_Pearce]

Hello,

I want to make you all aware that if you are looking at renewable energy then you should revert to your current suppliers for more information. In my opinion it is a marketing stunt however nearly all the main suppliers have made efforts to produce renewable energy and not use fossil fuel.

At UES we provide a professional utility and environmental management services to companies helping to identify areas of savings in areas such as energy, water, waste and telecommunications including mobiles.

with the utilities industry being in such a voletile state I would like to offer you the oppertunity to take advantage of UES's industry knowledge and experience by way of a free review.

All we require is half an hour of your time to intorduce ourselves to you and to gather the relevant bill information. UES work purely on a shared savings benefit so if we are unable to identify areas of savings - we dont get paid.

Once we have carried out our analysis we propose a solution to you which identifies the supplier we recommend with the proposed rates and the savings identified which is when you make the decision on whether to progress with our advice.

[lightbeing creations]

Spot on Barrie, the only green thing in this is the money the Gen Co's are counting from clever marketing.
For the most part I agree and the power that comes out the plug is the same for everyone. The difference is how it's produced and that's the difference I've found with Ecotricity; they are building new wind generation capacity, whereas the others are using existing renewable generated as their quota for green electricity.

The ideal solution is for all electricity to be small scale locally generated, but that's just not the case yet, and so we still have a reliance on massive power stations and the hugely inefficient national grid network.

IMO, all new buildings should have solar and/or wind generation as standard and local communities should have smaller scale renewable generation capacity.

[GreenChristmasAppeal org]

My company partners with an eletricity supplier who are offering renewable energy at the same price as the big six (ie Scottish Power, Centrica, Scottish & Southern, EDF Energy, Npower and E.On) suppliers through their price promise. Plus my company, The Green Christmas Appeal, will plant a tree for every company (or individual) who switches. The energy comes from wind farms, solar panels, wave power etc and I totally sustainable.

Whether your a business or for your home energy get green energy for the same price as brown energy

greenchristmasappeal.org/en/make-a-difference/100-renewable-energy.html

[lightbeing creations]

Sounds interesting. Out of interest, which company are you partnered with as the link you provided doesn't seem to come up

[GreenChristmasAppeal org]

Hey lightbein,

My site was down!!!! AAAAHHHHH please try the link now and all the details are there. If you find a problem please let me know and I will email you directly.

[lightbeing creations]

Some of the site is working fine, but that link isn't and several others aren't either. But I see from your homepage that it's Ecotricity, which is great, as they really are the best out there I reckon.

[moreeco]

Hi
If you join Good Energy via MoreEco you can earn up to £40 cashback. It is free to join MoreEco.

You can also earn cashback on all your eco shopping.

I hope this helps.:)

(check profile for link)

[Jeason]

I am Jeason
It's good and Good luck to you

[Antikson]

visit greenelectric.uk, it may solve your purpose.
thanks for writing

[My Owl 1]

HI folks, Just to say that all electricity companies use some green sources for their supplies of electricity, because whoever our supplier it is all from the National Grid. However, there are one or two places in the UK who have greater percentages of green energy because they are either self sufficient communties like CAT in Mid Wales, or that their part of the National grid the electricity is sourced from wind farms etc. So a supplier saying that they source their electricity is purely from green sources if you are using the same cables as before is telling "porkies".
As you know UW do electricity and we do have competitive rates for some businesses , others I would suggest you go to an energy broker.

Best wishes with your quest for 100% green energy, we may get there one day.

Avril:)