Ofgem delays electricity supply bands

UK energy regulator Ofgem has pushed back the timetable for publishing its energy ratings, designed to show the carbon footprint of suppliers’ various electricity feeds.
The A – F ratings, designed to cut through suppliers’ competing green claims by measuring kilogrammes of carbon emitted per kWh (kg/kWh) of electricity generated, were to be published early in 2008, according to an Ofgem statement released last November. But they have been delayed until this summer because discussions about the bandings are ongoing, an Ofgem spokesperson confirmed today.

Last year, Ofgem said the six bands would be:
A: 0kg/kWh;
B: up to 0.1kg/kWh;
C: 0.1 – 0.3kg/kWh;
D: 0.3 – 0.5kg/kWh;
E: 0.5 – 1kg/kWh;
F: over 1kg/kWh.

Electricity generated by nuclear power plants will fall into band A, the ‘greenest’, because it does not require fossil fuels to be burned. According to sources close to those discussions, British Energy, the UK’s nuclear energy generator, is involved in the banding decisions with Ofgem.

Earlier this month, the UK government approached Centrica, France’s EDF, Germany’s Eon and Spain’s Iberdrola about acquiring British Energy. France and Britain are due to sign a nuclear energy deal in London tomorrow.

However, environmentalists are incensed that electricity from nuclear plants can be rated by Ofgem as ‘green’.

“The claim is grotesque. Just because nuclear is low in CO2 doesn’t make it green,” said Alex Lambie founder of the Green Energy Helpline, a comparison site that helps customers choose greener energy sources. “Joe Public is ignorant of what defines green energy, and it stops the public from giving strong buying signals – which we believe they would – towards truly renewable sources such as wind and wave energy. Effectively that cuts off any reason to invest heavily in those renewables because it looks as though there isn’t enough demand.”

However, Ofgem has assured BusinessGreen.com that when the bandings are published, there will be a distinction between electricity supplied from purely renewable sources and supplies that include nuclear energy.

“The fuel mix for each supply will be shown,” said an Ofgem spokesperson.

Of course, not all environmentalists are opposed to nuclear power. Green guru James Lovelock came down heavily in favour of nuclear power as a short-term measure in his 2006 book The Revenge of Gaia.

Meanwhile, businesses looking for the greenest available electricity supplies would be advised to look closely at the fuel mix of the suppliers.