THE RENEWABLE REALITY CHECK

We’re always transparent about where our electricity comes from. While 100% hourly matching is our ambition, it’s not always possible to achieve. We are very proud to match our customers’ total electricity demand with renewable generation a leading 87% of the time.

We match the remaining demand by buying renewable electricity directly from 3,000+ generators over the year. This means we can legitimately describe our electricity supply as 100% renewable.

Our generators are mostly small independent businesses across the country, generating power from wind, solar, hydro and biogeneration. Find out more about where our electricity comes from.

Greenwashing is when a company presents itself in a way that makes you think they’re sustainable – when they’re not. They do this to convince you to buy their product or service over those sold by their competitors.

Greenwashing is misleading. It suggests that the product you are purchasing has more of a positive impact on the environment than it is in reality.

All the data behind the Renewable Reality Check comes from the Matched Clean Power Index, an independent open-source platform that ranks UK energy suppliers by the percentage of customer usage met with renewable electricity generated in the same half-hour.

The Index uses publicly available data from three sources: Elexon, Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator (NESO). This information is used to calculate each supplier’s score, showing how consistently they match customer demand with renewable generation throughout the year.

Matched updates the Index annually, in line with energy suppliers’ fuel mix disclosure period (April to March).

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In most cases, yes. A higher matching score means there is a closer alignment between your actual electricity consumption and clean, zero carbon renewable generation. This lowers the hidden reliance on fossil fuels that annual renewable energy matching hides.

However, if supplier A bought 60% renewables, 20% nuclear and 20% fossil fuels, they would be lower carbon than Supplier B with 70% renewables and 30% fossil fuels. This is because nuclear is also a low carbon energy source.

When you join a renewable electricity tariff, you don’t get connected to your local wind turbine. Instead, your energy supplier commits to matching what you use with renewable electricity over the course of a year.

At Good Energy, we go one step further. We aim to match the power we supply with renewable electricity bought directly from renewable generators every half hour. We achieve this 87% of the time.

Great question. Energy suppliers can use certificates called Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs) to back up their renewable electricity claims.

One certificate is issued for every unit of renewable electricity generated in the UK. Suppliers can buy these certificates to match the amount of electricity their customers use over a year.

But there is a catch. These certificates can be bought separately from the renewable electricity itself.

This means a supplier can buy electricity from the wholesale market, where fossil fuels are still used, then buy certificates to label it as 100% renewable.

While this is allowed, it doesn’t mean the supplier is buying renewable electricity directly from generators or helping to bring more renewable power onto the grid.

Good Energy is calling for half-hourly matching data to become standard across the energy industry – to bring much greater transparency about how energy companies make renewable energy claims.

Currently, suppliers can use Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs) to make renewable electricity claims based on annual matching, even when the certificates are bought separately from the electricity itself.

We believe suppliers should be required to demonstrate a closer link between the renewable electricity they buy and the electricity customers use.

Of course. We have a choice of standard, smart and fixed tariffs available to our customers, all backed by electricity bought from our 3,000 British renewable generators.

Check out our tariffs.