Buying green power directly from a utility has been the popular choice for some people as over the short term it’s a good deal cheaper than having a solar power system installed on a home; even with generous renewable energy rebates available.
Once suitable feed in tariffs are introduced nation-wide that pay premium rates to grid connected solar system owners for all the electricity they introduce, this will likely change dramatically. Some states already have introduced feed in tariff schemes to make uptake more attractive, but many people do not realize this.
Until a national program is in place and current feed in tariffs better publicized, paying an extra cost to an electricity utility for renewable energy can be a viable way for environmentally conscious consumers to help offset their energy related carbon impact.
However, the green products offered by electricity companies both here and overseas have come under increased scrutiny in the press, with some going so far to label these programs as simply cons, scams and greenwashing.
A recent example was mentioned on The Guardian – the article claims that many consumers in the UK are already paying for green electricity within standard bills as part of the British government forcing the utilities to source a certain amount of their electricity from renewable sources each year. So effectively, they are selling this renewable sourced electricity twice.
The problem has become so bad that the British government is currently discussing the implementation of a mandatory system of labelling and an independent auditor for green tariffs.
Here in Australia, it’s a little easier for consumers to sort out the green from the greenwashing with programs such as GreenPower accreditation and services such as Green Electricity Watch. The free GEW service provides a ranking of green electricity products. Green Electricity Watch is a coalition of three leading Australian environment organisations: the Australian Conservation Foundation, Total Environment Centre, and WWF-Australia.
The listings are quite comprehensive, but only cover those utilities offering accredited GreenPower products. The five-start scoring system covers three areas; the benefit to renewable energy projects, encouragement of green power uptake and clarity of information. Penalties are applied for misleading advertising and diversionary tactics.
Consumers pay up to 12.1c extra per kilowatt in these green electricity programs, so it certainly does pay to check out resources such as Green Electricity Watch to ensure they are getting the best result for their money. According to the comparison charts on the GEW site, paying the highest rate by no means guarantees the “greenest” product, nor does selecting a plan from the larger utilities.
