An advert for one of Britain’s largest renewable energy suppliers has been banned for claiming the electricity it supplies emits no carbon dioxide. Good Energy’s website said in September: “An average unit of electricity in the UK (a kilowatt hour or kWh) results in 360g of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and 0.007g of radioactive waste. “But the electricity we supply contains 0g of CO2 and no radioactive waste. This will never change.” A reader, who believed that Good Energy used biomass energy, which they understood produced more CO2 than coal when burnt, complained that the company’s claim was misleading. Good Energy, which supplies around 200,000 customers, gave the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) information from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) saying biomass fuels were considered a form of renewable energy, and that renewable energy sources produced 0g/kWh of CO2 compared with coal which produced 925g/kWh. The ASA said consumers would understand Good Energy’s claim to mean that no CO2 was emitted in generating the electricity and supplying it to consumers, regardless of whether the source was a form of renewable energy.
Independent 27th Feb 2018 read more »
Energy Voice 28th Feb 2018 read more »
More than one in five energy customers are now with small and medium-sized suppliers as the “big six” see their market share fall to a record low, Ofgem figures show. Some 21% of electricity customers and 22% of gas customers were signed up with smaller suppliers in December, up from 4.7% and 5% respectively in 2013, the regulator said. The six largest energy suppliers’ market share stood at 79% for electricity and 78% for gas in December, down from 84% for both gas and electricity at the end of 2016.
Energy Voice 28th Feb 2018 read more »