We have tried to think of the questions that are on your mind. If you don’t find the answers below, do give us a call on 0845 456 1640 and put us to the test.
Q. Where does your energy come from?
A. All of our electricity is generated from clean and renewable sources - from wind, water and sunlight. We own our own windfarm down in Delabole, North Cornwall which supplies about 7% of our customers. We also have agreements in place to buy from over 1,000 independent generators across the UK - anything from home generators to community sized schemes.
Q. How is Good Energy helping to grow renewables in the UK?
A: Good Energy is creating demand for renewable electricity - the more customers we have the more financially attractive it is for investment in renewable generation to meet the growing demand. We also help boost the return on investment to generators by retiring ROCs (more on this in separate question) and we give our customers the opportunity to become shareholders in Good Energy. We are doing a huge amount at a national level to lobby for change to support renewables. Juliet, our CEO, is a member of the Renewables Advisory Board, which advises the government - so we are working where it counts.
Q. What happens if the wind stops blowing?
A: Good Energy customers will always get a supply of electricity, even if the wind stops blowing. All of the electricity that we buy for our customers is supplied into the grid - this ensures that whatever the weather, come rain or sun, our customers will be supplied with electricity.
Q: Will I actually get physical green units of electricity directly to my home?
A. When you sign up to Good Energy you are helping to increase the amount of renewable electricity in the national grid - think of it like a reservoir. At the moment, over 90% of the reservoir comes from brown sources of generation - coal, gas and nuclear and green electricity only makes up about 5% of the whole reservoir. So in switching to Good Energy you are helping to grow the contribution that renewable electricity is making to the whole mix. Instead of the units actually being delivered to your home, we feed them into the grid on your behalf.
Q: How do you ensure that you always have enough renewable electricity to meet the needs of your customers?
A: First up, we will never take on a new customer if we are in any doubt about whether we have enough renewable electricity available. We have never turned away a domestic customer but we have been forced to turn away a couple of really huge businesses - this is because our 100% guarantee is never compromised. Every year we get some independent auditors in to check over our 100% claims - we put the results in our Values Report.
Q: Why don’t you supply nuclear electricity?
A: Nuclear does have some good points - like it doesn’t create much carbon dioxide. However, there are some down-sides too. In particular, it is estimated that there is only 40 years supply of uranium left in the world so nuclear power is certainly not renewable. Then there are the problems of what to do with the waste products, the old plants as well as the huge cost of nuclear generation. So all in all we feel there are still some big uncertainties over nuclear electricity and so we are steering clear.
Q: Why are you more expensive?
A: Good Energy is a bit more expensive because every unit that we supply comes from a renewable source. The main reason for the extra cost is that as well as buying the electricity for our customers, we also purchase certificates called ROCs (see below). These ROCs give the generators a bit of additional income and help to boost investment in renewable generation. Also because we are small and independent we just can’t be as competitive as the big guys. Think of us like the corner shop.
Q: What is your policy on Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs)?
A: ROCs are a financial instrument to help grow the renewable generation market (they are not a guarantee of greenness as they can be sold separately from the energy, proof of renewable energy uses a Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificate). Every electricity supplier has to obtain, and present to the industry regulator - a certain number of ROCs every year based on the amount of energy they sold. By placing this obligation on suppliers to present a specific proportion of ROCs (0.097 ROCs per MWh in 2009/10 - going-up to 0.104 ROCs per MWh by 2010/11) they develop a financial value. As well as buying renewable electricity from generators - we buy ROCs too. This helps our generators get a bit more money . Any additional ROCs above the supplier’s obligation can be sold to those companies that have insufficient ROCs to meet their obligation. Suppliers that do not hold enough ROCs have to pay a financial penalty, which is the re-circulated to those suppliers who have presented ROCs for compliance. To help stimulate the market further, we don’t sell all of the ROCs we hold above our annual obligation we just bin them - this is called retiring ROCs and helps push up their value in the market, simply because there are less to go round. We remove from circulation the financial equivalent of an additional 0.05 ROCs per MWh above our obligation. Why not more? Well our electricity would just get too expensive.
To find out more about Good Energy and ROCs, click here
To read an open letter to our customers on ROC retirement, click here
Q: Who owns Good Energy?
A: Good Energy is owned by Good Energy Group, an independent UK company. Over 90% of shareholders in Good Energy are actually our customers - people who are actively helping to grow renewable energy in the UK.
Q: Do you supply gas as well as electricity?
A: Many of our customers asked us to supply their gas as well as electricity, so we researched the UK gas market and believe we have now found a way to supply gas and support renewable generation at the same time. We have launched our gas product in conjunction with our Renewable Heat Incentive - a ground-breaking scheme which pays owners of solar thermal installations for the heat they produce.
We are currently trialing our gas product, so availability may be limited. For more information, click here.
Q: Do you supply Ireland?
A: Sadly no. We don’t have a licence to supply properties in Ireland so we can only supply England, Wales and Scotland. To find out more about electricity suppliers in Ireland, take a look at www.greenelectricity.org/international.html
Q. What is your registered address?
Good Energy Limited, Monkton Reach, Monkton Hill, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 1EE
VAT No: 811 3295 57
