last updated 12th January 06
by 4ecotips.com

Good Energy with 100% renewable is way out in front

Last July the EU Fuel Mix Disclosure was introduced which required all electricity suppliers to reveal exactly how their electricity is generated. In other words how "green" it is?

The idea is to provide consumers with a firm indication of whether or not their electricity supplier is generating its electricity from coal, gas, nuclear, renewable or by other means.

It became law on 1 October 2005 for supply companies to declare their fuel mix but some are still withholding information. As a result new guidelines were announced in December.

The purpose of the guidelines is to help suppliers with the presentation of the fuel mix information to help customers understand the information. It is proposed there is some limited standardization of certain aspects of fuel mix labeling to aid customers when comparing the fuel supplied by different suppliers.

The guidelines are directed all suppliers including the six major ones - British Gas, npower, PowerGen, Scottish & Southern, Scottish Power and EDF. How quickly, or if at all, they respond to the guidelines remains to be seen.

FMD allows suppliers customers to know where the power has been bought from and therefore the type of generation they are supporting by buying from that supplier.

For instance, Good Energy a supplier of 100% renewable electricity is committed to ensuring that over a 12 month period it buys the same amount of from renewable generation sources as it supplies tom its customers.

The company's chief executive, Juliet Davenport, says: "We welcome the introduction of FMD as consumers will now be able to make a more informed decision about how their electricity is generated which is a very important step towards making the electricity industry more transparent."

"As more and more people become concerned with their impact on the environment it is vital that they are able to easily find out the effect of their purchasing decisions and the fuel mix disclosure is a positive step in this direction."

"Good Energy only supplies 100% renewable electricity, which means that there is no CO2 emitted during its generation. We offer homes and businesses around Britain a straightforward and effective way to reduce their impact on climate change."