Free electricity

Joe is quite keen on getting ourselves a windmill. It looks interesting - they reckon it pays for itself in 5 years. It would be quite cool to have though.

If we're going to get environmental though I suggested we switch to an environmentally friendly electricity supplier first.

The Guardian also host a comparison utility.

Both the above comparison utilities give an option to go for green tariffs.

More info: Friends of the Earth have a comparison table. This also explains why buying green electricity may not actually be doing anything useful at all.

How can you tell it's green?

Every unit of green electricity generated comes with a certificate of proof that it is green. Companies use the proof to demonstrate to the Government they have met their legal obligation.

Some companies keep the certificates for the extra green electricity they have supplied to you.

Others sell the certificates to other electricity companies which can then use them to meet their legal obligations.

The survey information is also available as a PDF download which goes into more detail and is worth reading unless you know how the energy market works already.

So comparing the two recommended options the FoE gives that are actually available we get:

• Good Energy: 10.2p/day + 7.1p/kWh. Discounts for advance DD payment of £10 (monthly), 4.25% (quarterly), 5.5% (half-yearly), 8% (annual). Not clear whether this includes VAT or not.
  
• Green Energy 100: 4p/day + 7.64p/kWh. plus VAT. Monthly DD only. Free shares given.
  

Current Expenditure, including VAT:

Electricity (Powergen) £390 by monthly DD. Total of 4452 units.
Gas (BG) £397.31 by monthly DD. Total of 23432 kWh.