05.03.10 Ofgem launches green energy labels

Ofgem has just launched a new scheme to help consumers find out just how much each energy supplier is dong to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. This is coming into force in the form of a new label which will show whether a provider is ‘green energy certified’.

The aim behind the scheme is to help energy customers see quickly and clearly which providers are doing the most to source extra green power. Ofgem is hoping to convince customers that it is worth paying for renewable energy and now they can clearly see who is doing the most before choosing a supplier.

The label scheme will make it harder for suppliers to make misleading claims about their use of renewable power. Suppliers will now have to demonstrate to a panel of experts exactly what they are doing to increase their sourcing of renewable energy, and can no longer rely on vague claims to get more customers.

Solitaire Townsend, the chairwoman of the panel, said that “only 2% of Britons currently buy green energy”, but she hoped that “a trustworthy label will convince many more to go green.”

Before the introduction of the scheme, many customers may have been paying suppliers for what they thought were impressive green credentials, whereas the suppliers might simply have been meeting their existing targets set by the government.

Surprisingly, some green energy firms are not happy with the new rules. The founder of Ecotricity, a green energy company, said that Ofgem has created an “artificial standard” as some energy firms could still be misleading in their green energy claims.

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