This article first appeared in our Organic September 2024 issue of My Green Pod Magazine. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
Our new Labour government has pledged to make Britain ‘a clean energy superpower’, doubling onshore wind, tripling solar power and quadrupling offshore wind by 2030.
With clean, locally generated power back in the spotlight – and affordability and accessibility never far from bill-payers’ minds – the challenge now is to make sure you’re getting an authentically clean energy supply from a company using business as a force for good – at both community and global levels.
Good Energy – one of the original purpose-led businesses – has just become the only UK household energy supplier to be certified as a B Corp.
Certified B Corps are companies verified by the non-profit B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
With certification comes official recognition of Good Energy’s 25-year mission to do good and provide solutions to climate change. ‘It is one thing to say we are a purpose-led business and another to have it externally validated by the global authority on business as a force for good’, says CEO Nigel Pocklington.
Good Energy began the process of B Corp certification over two years ago; the main attraction was initially to join the community of other purpose-driven businesses.
‘Many of our customers are like-minded, values-led businesses and quite a few are B Corps themselves’, Nigel explains. ‘But it soon became clear that the value of B Corp certification was not only recognised by other businesses, but also by our domestic customers, employees and investors, too.’
Earlier this year B Lab UK released research that reveals over three-quarters of the UK public (76%) believe, more than ever before, the law needs to change to give businesses a legal responsibility to prioritise people and the planet alongside making a profit.
UK law currently requires firms to operate under a legal regime of shareholder primacy, meaning company directors too often put profit ahead of society and the environment.
In a bid to meet this growing consumer demand for ethical products, companies have scrambled to get ‘eco’ products on the shelves and take a share of the market.
According to the latest figures from Mintel, ethical claims on product launches accounted for 21% in 2022, up from 19.5% a year before.
‘Green’ services are on the rise, too – not least in the energy sector. Ethical Consumer’s 2023 Ethical Markets Report reveals that spending on green electricity tariffs increased by 40% in 2022 and, in a year when inflation was running at 9.2% and most other sectors saw little growth or real-term declines, spending on solar panels increased by 282%.
‘Greenwash in the energy sector is a huge problem and only getting worse as energy suppliers recognise a growth in demand for greener options but don’t want to do the hard work to truly meet that demand’, Nigel warns. ‘These suppliers fall back on smoke and mirrors and false claims.’
If suppliers talk about their electricity being backed with certificates, or ‘REGOs’, but make no mention of the actual renewable generators they have purchased the power from, Nigel suggests it’s probably greenwash.
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‘Good Energy is very clear that 100% of the power we supply our customers is backed with electricity we have sourced directly from over 2,500 renewable generators around the UK’, he tells us.
Market regulators like the ASA and CMA are being stricter on greenwash in other sectors and, within energy, when it comes to technologies like hydrogen. Still, in Nigel’s view the regulators have yet to step up when it comes to energy supply.
‘The previous government promised a crackdown, but it was deprioritised during the energy crisis’, Nigel explains. ‘We are hopeful that the current government will give it the priority it needs— there is huge consumer demand for renewable energy.’
What we have seen from the Labour government so far is positive. It rightly removed the ban on onshore wind almost immediately, and GB Energy’s goal of investing in large-scale clean power projects is a good one.
‘It is absolutely essential that that work comes alongside reforms to planning and grid infrastructure though’, Nigel says. ‘We also want to see more on the small scale — because small can be big in energy. The UK’s rooftop solar capacity is larger than our single-largest power station. Labour has announced it wants to lead a ‘rooftop revolution’ on solar, which is great. We want to hear more.’
Good Energy is one of the major players in rooftop solar power, counting around a fifth of UK households with solar as its customers. As well as being the first to launch a fully certified 100% renewable electricity supply tariff, Good Energy introduced the first solar export tariff for homes.
‘We are building on that legacy by offering more in that space, including solar installation, storage, EV chargers and heat pumps, along with the tariffs and services that make it as simple as possible for households and businesses to go green’, Nigel says.
While simplicity is essential when it comes to switching energy supplier, price can’t be ignored. Good Energy’s standard variable tariffs are exempt from the energy price cap because the regulator Ofgem recognises its higher operating costs, and acknowledges that these higher costs are directly related to supporting the growth of renewables.
‘This means that Good Energy can be more expensive than other suppliers, but not that we always are’, Nigel says. ‘I would recommend going to our website to get a quote and to see how we compare — you may be surprised.’
Good Energy was awarded a particularly high impact score when it became a certified B Corp; the average for businesses that complete the B Corp Impact Assessment is 50.9 and the minimum for certification is 80. Good Energy achieved an impressive score of 118.5.
As part of the certification process Good Energy made a commitment; in addition to 100% renewable electricity, it currently supplies gas that is 10% green, with the remainder offset through Gold Standard schemes.
‘This is the greenest product we can offer customers who aren’t ready to switch their homes off gas yet’, Nigel explains. ‘But we are acutely aware that we cannot solve the climate crisis if we keep using gas, so we have provided a plan to move fully away from gas by 2040.’
So will B Corp certification change anything Good Energy does on the ground? ‘The only thing it should change’, Nigel says, ‘is more reassurance that we are the company we say we are – that cares about our impact on people and planet.’
Reduce your bills and make your home more energy independent with solar panels and a battery from Good Energy Solar.
Heat your home using renewables with a bespoke heat pump system designed for your home.
One of the UK’s original purpose-led businesses will join the world’s largest gathering of B Corps at the Louder Than Words festival in September.
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