Ofgem certification for green energy tariffs

A certification scheme has been launched by energy watchdog Ofgem to label green electricity tariffs to prove they have genuine environmental benefits.

The "Green Energy Certified" label will help customers recognise tariffs that have been certified under the scheme, says Ofgem.

Only two per cent of Britons currently buy green energy, but it is hoped that a trustworthy label will convince many more to opt for green tariffs.

The certification scheme will implement Ofgem's Green Supply Guidelines, published last year. The guidelines set out what green tariffs should comprise, how they should be marketed and the evidence required to backup claims. To be eligible for certification, suppliers will have to demonstrate to an independent panel of experts that their tariffs result in a reduction of a minimum threshold of carbon dioxide emissions.

Crucially suppliers must show that the activity associated with the green tariff is in addition to what they already have to do to meet existing Government targets for sourcing more renewable electricity and reducing household carbon emissions.

The independent panel, chaired by sustainable development consultant Solitaire Townsend, has assessed tariffs from all seven suppliers participating in the scheme: British Gas, E.On, EDF Energy, Good Energy, RWE Npower, Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Power.

"For far too long, green tariffs have been a swamp of misleading and confusing claims - and have done little or nothing to drive forward new renewable energy schemes," said Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF UK. "We hope that the new guidelines and certification scheme will be implemented robustly, and begin to give consumers some assurance that by choosing a green tariff they are making a difference."

Under Ofgem's green supply guidelines, to demonstrate the delivery of an environmental benefit over and above what suppliers are already required to do, a supplier must undertake an environmental activity which abates at least a minimum threshold of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.

For domestic green tariffs, the minimum threshold has been set at one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions a year if the environmental activity is carbon offsetting and 50kg of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year for all other environmental activities such as community-based renewable electricity projects.

For green tariffs marketed to small businesses the thresholds will be scaled up according to their electricity consumption.