The government has announced a plan to ban British energy suppliers from bulk-buying cheap renewable energy certificates from foreign power stations.
Chris Bowden, managing director and founder of Squeaky – the marketplace for 100% clean energy, reacts:
“Finally, a regulation that will help put an end to greenwashing and hold the energy industry to account. Suppliers have long been buying cheap renewable energy certificates – also known as European GOs – from European companies which have allowed them to describe their own, dirty tariffs, as clean. In essence, paying to hide the truth from their own customers for financial gain. Quite frankly, this new regulation couldn’t come into force soon enough.
“Buying European GOs instead of the UK counterpart enables suppliers to wriggle out of paying green levies which are designed to support UK clean energy projects.
“Businesses who are striving to meet sustainable targets need clarity on the makeup of the energy they are procuring. In large part because suppliers are putting their own customers at risk of greenwashing. Imagine claiming you procure 100% clean energy, only to find out it is contaminated with fossil fuels. Loose regulation has long made it notoriously difficult for customers to understand where their energy comes from. New rules like this will help stamp out misinformation.”
Squeaky has undertaken a comprehensive study into how industrial and commercial (I&C) energy suppliers used REGOs and European GOs between the reporting period April 1st 2020 – March 31st 2021. The aim is to help businesses uncover the true makeup of their energy supply.
The Squeaky study suggests some of the biggest I&C energy suppliers in the UK are involved in greenwashing practices:
