After successfully helping to bring order to green claims for 5 years, the Green Energy Supply Certification Scheme has closed to new customers with effect from 1 April 2015.
“We are pleased that the new licence condition introduced with effect from today will outlaw the double selling of green energy”, said Solitaire Townsend, Chair of the Panel, “as this means that all households buying green energy can be certain that it has been uniquely matched by renewable electricity from clean supplies such as wind, solar or hydropower. What’s more, Ofgem’s updated rules on how information is provided about green electricity should ensure that consumers are better able to compare offerings in the market than before, when only tariffs sold within the Green Energy Supply Certification Scheme had to meet strict rules of transparency.”
“Although we might have liked greater encouragement to companies to provide additional environmental benefits,” she added, “we hope that some green tariffs will continue to do this, for example through investing in community-based renewable energy projects. And after five years of running the Scheme, we know that there is a demand there from consumers who both want assurance about the source of their green energy, as well as contributing to additional carbon savings.”
Existing certified tariffs will continue to be required to meet the rules established by Ofgem and the Scheme in 2009-10. This means that commitments on matched supply and additional environmental benefits given to end users will continue to be honoured. However, no new customers are being accepted onto certified tariffs, and several of the old tariffs have either transferred customers onto a non-green tariff or are likely to do so in the near future, as suppliers comply with the new conditions limiting the number of tariffs on the market. The Panel and Secretariat will remain in place until at least the end of June, to oversee audits for certified tariffs up to 31 March 2015, ensuring that customers receive the benefits that they were expecting.
