New standards aim to tackle greenwash from renewable electricity suppliers
73% of consumers want stricter rules on energy suppliers making green claims, and 38% believe energy suppliers are more likely to greenwash than other businesses
Good Energy introduces new transparency standards for renewable electricity suppliers and calls for the industry to follow suit
Good Energy, the renewable electricity company, has introduced new transparency standards on where it sources
its energy, laying down a challenge to the rest of the industry and calling for much greater clarity from other
suppliers, amid claims that energy companies are “greenwashing”.
It says energy suppliers can still buy power from fossil fuels and sell it to consumers and businesses as “100 per
cent renewable”, due to a misleading system relying on renewable energy certificates. These Renewable Energy
Guarantees of Origin (REGOs) are often traded via a thriving secondary market, meaning suppliers can source
energy from fossil fuel sources, and then buy certificates to label a tariff as green.
Analysis1 by Cornwall Insight commissioned by BT Group and published in October 2024 estimated that, if all
REGOs were traded at spot prices seen at the time of writing, £1bn would be spent annually on REGO certificates,
without evidence that this is being reinvested towards the growth of renewables. The report states that if allocated
elsewhere this spend on REGO certificates by the industry could deliver around 1,900MW of solar generation,
680MW of onshore wind or 400MW of offshore wind; in each case enough to power around 660,000 homes and
reduce the UK’s annual carbon emissions by roughly 900,000t/year. The report stated that although REGOs allow
organisations to report lower emissions, this does not necessitate lower energy consumption or real-world
emissions reductions.
Good Energy’s new research3 suggests that consumers are confused by the lack of clarity over renewable
electricity supply, duped into thinking the energy they use is 100 per cent renewable when it’s not. Over half of
consumers (54%) with 100% renewable tariffs believe their supplier gets all of their electricity from renewable
sources. A 2021 report by Good Energy and Scottish Power2 found Good Energy to be the only supplier to back
all of the power it supplies customers with direct agreements with renewable generators, and Good Energy remains
the only supplier to not only make this claim but have it independently audited. Meanwhile the market is rife with
confusing supplier claims such as “certified green energy we buy… via the wholesale market”, when it is impossible
to buy green energy on the wholesale market as it is a mix of all sources.
This confusion is also causing consumers to turn away from choosing renewable energy products. There is a lack
of trust in energy suppliers, with 38% of adults saying energy suppliers are more likely to greenwash than other
businesses (compared to just 10% who disagree). One in five (20%) even believe their own supplier is
greenwashing.
The new data reveals that three in four consumers (73%) believe there should be stricter rules for transparency on
how energy suppliers market their green claims.
Independent assessments of energy suppliers’ green credentials exist, but are increasingly broadening in scope to
include factors such as whether a supplier offers flexible ‘time-of-use’ tariffs or sells other green products like heat
pumps and solar, which are irrelevant to how green a customer’s electricity is unless they are on such a tariff or
buying these products.
In response, today Good Energy has launched Good Green Supply – three key metrics for renewable suppliers to
share how they score on the sourcing principles that matter for transparency and growth of renewables – and is
calling on other renewable suppliers to do the same.
The metrics are:
1. True green - The percentage of power sourced directly from renewable generators. This could
come from direct agreements with renewable generators or suppliers’ own wind or solar farms. This
is to expose the practice of buying power from fossil fuels while selling it as ‘renewable’ through
deceptive clean energy certificates.
2. New green - The proportion of power from generators which are new to the grid. This is to
reinforce the importance of continuous decarbonisation of the grid by connecting new renewable
generators to it. A third of consumers (34%) say they are prepared to pay more for an energy tariff
that genuinely supports the growth of renewable energy.
3. Time-matched green - The amount of customers’ energy usage that is matched to renewable
generation hour by hour. Currently, suppliers can match winter electricity use with certificates from
midsummer solar power, for example, which is not only misleading it is unhelpful in creating an
energy grid that generates clean power when it is needed. This metric will demonstrate the amount
of renewable electricity actually generated when customers are using it.
The company is launching the initiative with a video explaining Good Green Supply, available here.
Good Energy is disclosing its scores for the most recent Ofgem fuel mix disclosure period, which runs from April to
April annually, on its fuel mix disclosure webpage. Its scores are 100% true renewable, 40% new renewable
and 90% time-matched renewable. The company is asking other suppliers disclose their scores either now or
alongside their next fuel mix disclosure period later this year, which will relate to the period April 2024 – April 2025.
Good Energy’s research reveals that very few people are deliberately choosing renewable tariffs. Of those who
have a 100% renewable tariff, only 7% deliberately chose it versus 79% who didn’t.
Scepticism and lack of transparency are preventing others from choosing one. Of those people who don’t have a
renewable tariff, 24% say it’s because they don’t believe they are actually 100% renewable; 20% don’t understand
how they work; 13% say they’re not transparent; and 11% think they don’t really help make energy more
sustainable.
Nigel Pocklington, Chief Executive, Good Energy, explained: “Most people don’t know what it means to be
certified as a renewable electricity supplier, and if they did, they’d be shocked. Your energy supplier can buy most
of your power from fossil fuels and sell it to you as ‘100 per cent renewable’.
“The current system uses certificates and middlemen, making renewable claims deceptive. We believe customers
deserve better; the current standards aren’t fit for purpose and we want more transparency. Clarity around how
transparent suppliers actually are in sourcing renewable electricity is one of the major roadblocks preventing British
households and businesses from being able to play an active part in our net zero ambitions. The demand is there
but the industry is not being nearly honest enough with customers.
“We’re calling on other renewable suppliers to reveal their data on these important metrics to help drive true
decarbonisation of the grid. We’re also asking for the Government to make this level of transparency mandatory so
that people and businesses can be assured that choosing a green supplier helps to create a greener energy
system.”
Joe Kwiatkowski, Founder of Matched, an open-source initiative that tracks the renewable content of electricity
tariffs using publicly available data, said:
"The decarbonisation of the grid has led to significant differences in how renewable energy is sourced, but
reporting standards have not kept pace. Customers require clearer, more detailed disclosures to make informed
choices, and we welcome this initiative from Good Energy.
The majority of respondents responding to a government consultation on REGO reform in 20214 argued that the
current approach does not provide a sufficient level of transparency.
Good Energy wants to see more clarity in the energy market so that brokers and customers understand exactly
what they are buying. It believes that if suppliers want to sell renewable electricity to their customers, they should
have to buy it from generators in the first place. This would result in a more level playing field in pricing for the end
