Electricity Firm Scottish Power is on a mission to call out all energy companies that are “greenwashing” – or claiming to sell clean energy that isn’t clean. These companies do this by buying renewable energy certificates to appear eco-friendly, then buy power from another source of which they’re selling to their customers, says consumer group ‘Which?’. Many suppliers claim to offer renewable energy tariffs because they buy the certificates, but they aren’t investing in renewable energy projects at all.
Keith Anderson Scottish Power’s chief executive told The Guardian:
With an increasing number of green tariffs in the market, it’s important that consumers understand how ‘green’ their tariff is in terms of supporting the UK renewables industry.
There are lots of suppliers running around, slapping a bit of green paint on their logo and trading bits of paper to claim they’re green. But buying and selling certificates doesn’t help tackle climate change – building wind farms and solar projects are what we need to do.
Scottish Power plans to stand out as truly clean by launching a new tariff in which it guarantees that 100% of the electricity it provides will come directly from its renewable energy projects. Back in 2018, the company sold off all its fossil fuel projects and has since been busy building wind farms.
Anderson said:
As the UK’s only end-to-end energy provider, we’re unique in being able to make this commitment. From today, anyone who signs up for our electricity on a fixed-price tariff can be confident that they are buying electricity from truly green sources.
Aside from helping eco-conscious customers not be deceived, Scottish Power is dedicated to developing its renewable farms (wind and solar) portfolio to funnel more money into the clean energy sector. Furthermore, the more people who take up green tariffs, the more investment in green energy there will be overall, Anderson says.
On that note, energy regulator Ofgem said it was aware now of growing concerns regarding greenwashing in the energy market. It will take action to ensure customers are not misled.
