Question: What's the simplest thing you can do to make a large difference to your environmental 'footprint' - the effect your activities have on the environment?

Answer: Switch to renewable electricity - it is often as cheap as regular electricity and as easy as making a phone call.

You may be able to do this both as an organisation and by encouraging employees to do the same at home. An estimated 60,000 customers have already done so according to Ofgem.

You might think that your contribution would be negligible, but by signing up for green electricity, not only would you help to reduce pollution, you would also send a powerful message to electricity companies to invest more in renewable energy technologies.

This feature explains how to find the best deal for you, and where to find out more about the supply schemes.

What's the best deal for green electricity?

Schemes may be evaluated on price and 'green-ness'...

Green-ness

Not all schemes are as green as each other. For example, electricity which comes from waste-to-energy plants will never be as green as wind energy, as the plants generate some pollution and discourage recycling or reuse.

This is shown by the Friends of the Earth league table [below], which puts Unit(e) on top. The table has been compiled using information provided by Greenprices and is based on an interpretation of OFGEM's guidelines for green electricity suppliers.

Price

The large table [below] compares all suppliers and schemes and gives full details. It covers domestic and business deals. but prices vary according to where you are.

If you want to find out how much green electricity costs in your area, type in your postcode at: www.greenprices.com/uk/pricesbox.asp, and it give you the offers from different suppliers. You need to know your approximate consumption in a year.

Accreditting green power

Most UK green electricity supplies have been vetted and accredited under the Energy Saving Trust's (EST) Future Energy Scheme (see large table). After a period of reconsidering the scheme's future, the EST has announced it will continue. It will accredit green supply schemes in line with Ofgem's recently launched green guidelines.

There are two types of offerings accredited by Future Energy:

• energy-based - 'Green Supply';

• contribution-based - 'Green Funds' - where payments are made into a fund to support future investments in new renewable energy.

A guaranteed market

The Renewables Obligation (and the Scottish Renewables Obligation in Scotland) obliges all electricity suppliers to source a growing percentage of their total supplies from eligible renewable energy sources.

It is set at 3% for the year starting from April 2002 and will grow to 10.4 % in 2010. Electricity suppliers will have to prove they have fulfilled the quota through the delivery of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs).

These can be bought from renewables generators and will provide additional revenue for them. Suppliers that fail to meet their quota will have to pay 3p for each kWh of electricity below their Obligation.

However, by signing up to a Green Tariff customers can help to increase the proportion of green electricity in the supply mix. The third table [below] shows who's buying the most in the UK as of May 2002.

A Green Tariff will be over-and-above that required by the Renewables Obligation, as the electricity supplied under a Green Tariff will not be used by the supplier to meet its quota.

You can also help to increase the amount of electricity from renewables by signing up to a Green Fund, as the electricity generated by installations built using the Fund should not be eligible for meeting suppliers Renewables Obligation.

Need more information on the Renewables Obligation?

The following can be found on the Ofgem web site:

• a list of Renewables Obligation accredited generating stations

• an explanation of monthly output requirements for the Renewables Obligation

• questions & answers on eligible on-site use and the Climate Change Levy

• other question & answers, and

• a publication: The Renewables Obligation - Ofgem's procedures.

Other web resources:

• Euro prices news and green energy quiz: www.greenprices.com/eu/index.asp

• Discussion of the issues: www.greenelectricity.org/

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Name of Supplier

Owned By

Brand Name

Offer (extra?)

Type of offering

CL Exemption?

Additional to RO?

Renewable Energy Sources Used

Areas Covered

Customer Type

Use EST?

Contact No

TXU-Energi

TXU Europe

Eco-Power

5 or 10% Extra

Supply/ Fund

N/A

Yes

Solar/Wind/Biomass
/Landfill Gas/Wind

National

Domestic

Yes

0800 183 1222

TXU-Energi

TXU Europe

Green Supply

Site Specific

Supply

Yes

Yes

Landfill Gas/Wind

National

Business

No

01234 322 642

London Electricity

Electricity de France

Green Tariff

£13.20/ annum

Fund

N/A

No

All Sources

London Area only

Domestic

Yes

0800 587 4433

London Electricity

Electricity de France

Green Tariff

Site Specific

Supply

Yes

No

Energy from Waste

National

Business

No

0800 587 4433

npower

Innogy Holdings

Juice

Same Price

Supply

Yes

Yes

All Sources

National

Domestic

No

0800 632 632

Business

No

Northern Ireland Electricity

N/A

Eco-Energy

10, 50 or 100%

Supply/
Fund

Yes

Undecided

All Sources

Northern Ireland only

Domestic

Yes

0845 745 5455

Business

No

PowerGen

PowerGen UK

GreenPlan

4% per annum

Supply

N/A

Yes

All Sources

National

Domestic

Yes

0800 015 4244

PowerGen

PowerGen UK

GreenSupply

Site Specific

Supply

Yes

Yes

All Sources

National

Business

No

024 7642 4242

Renewable Energy Company Ltd.

N/A

Ecotricity

Same Price

Supply

Yes

Yes

New build wind/solarÊ

England & Wales

Business & Domestic

No

01453Ê756 111

SEEBOARD plc

Central & South West

Go Green

£15 per annum

Fund

N/A

Undecided

All Sources

SEEBOARD Region Only

Domestic

Yes

0800 581 255

Scottish & Southern

N/A

RSPB Energy

Same price

Supply/
Fund

N/A

No

Hydro/Wind/Landfill Gas/SewageGas

National

Domestic

Yes

0800 028 8552

ScottishPower
MANWEB

N/A

Green Energy

£14.60/ annum

Supply
Fund

N/A

Yes

Hydro/Wind

ScottishPower & MANWEB Regions only

Domestic

No

0845 272 7111

Business

No

SWALEC

Scottish & Southern

RSPB Energy

Same Price

Supply
/Fund

N/A

No

Hydro/Tidal/Landfill Gas

SWALEC Region only

Domestic

Yes

0800 052 123

Business

No

SWEB

London Electricity

Green Tariff

£13.20 per yr

Fund

N/A

No

Hydro/Wind/Landfill Gas/ Solar Energy

National

Domestic

Yes

0800 328 9026

Business

No

Unit Energy

Utility Link

Unit[e]

15% per annum

Supply

Yes

Yes

Wind/Hydro

National

Domestic

Yes

0845 601 1410

Business

No

Yorkshire Electricity

npower

Green Electricity

£15.60 per yr

Supply

N/A

No

All Sources

Mainly Yorkshire Region

Domestic

No

0800 023 045

Yorkshire Electricity

npower

Green Electricity

Site Specific

Supply

Yes (To existing customers only)

No

Wind/Biomass

National

Business

No

0845 722 7733

Servista.Com

N/A

Green Power

£1 per month

Supply

N/A

Yes

Wind/Water

National

Domestic

No

0870 241 2732

Business

No

Greenenergy (UK) plc

N/A

Green Energy

5% per annum

Supply

No

Yes

All Sources

National

Domestic

No

01920 486 156

Business

No

Rank

Tariff

Company

1

Unit[e]

(Unit[e])

= 2

Ecotricity

(Ecotricity)

= 2

Green Energy 100

(Green Energy UK)

= 4

Eco Energy

(Northern Ireland Electricity)

= 4

Green Energy 10

(Green Energy UK)

= 6

Juice

(Innogy Group)

= 6 *

Ecopower

(TXU Energi)

= 6 *

Green Tariff

(London Electricity Group)

= 9 *

RSPB Energy

(Scottish and Southern Energy)

= 9 *

Green Energy Offer

(Scottish Power)

11 *

Green Fund Tariff

(Seeboard Energy Ltd)

GreenPlan (Powergen) - New product due as we went to press

Servista (Servista) - Didn't answer questionnaire.

All ranked companies listed above offer energy based tariff unless marked with an asterisk * which indicates a fund based tariffs. Further details, including ranking methodology, available from FoE.

Who's buying the most green power?

(Top UK buyers ranked in the top 25 of European purchasers)

Rank

User

2

Procter and Gamble UK

3

Authorities buying consortium (abc)

5

London Borough of Lewisham

8

North Wales Energy Partnership

11

NHS Scotland

12

KPMG UK

13

Corporation of London

14

TeleCity UK Ltd

16

Greenwich Council

17

Edinburgh University

20

Cooperative Bank

22

Bodyshop

25

Oxfordshire County Council