Ecotricity drives down cost of green energy

Prior to the announcement at the weekend, Ecotricity matched its prices to the standard tariffs of the Big Six. However, from October 1 Ecotricity will no longer follow the Big Six price changes, and will instead price its 100% Green Electricity tariff independently.

Ecotricity founder, Dale Vince, said: “Around 40% of our electricity supply is self-generated by our own fleet of wind and sun parks, and we have planning permission to more than double that supply in the near future – this degree of energy independence now means we can be price independent.

“People often falsely assume that green electricity is always more expensive. But most people in Britain are actually still on a standard tariff – so we’re a little cheaper than what the majority pay for brown electricity and we aim to get even cheaper than that big brown price in the near future,” he added.

According to Ecotricity, it spends more per customer on building new sources of green energy than all other energy providers in Britain put together. On average, over the last nine years, this has equated to almost £300 per customer.

Because of this, Vince says Ecotricity is stretching the gap between itself and the conventional energy companies.

“We have one simple 100% green electricity tariff, we continue to invest more per customer in new sources of renewable energy, and we are now moving further away from the price of the Big Six standard tariffs too,” said Vince.

“Our work is aimed at bringing about an energy independent Britain, and as a green energy company we want to demonstrate how this can be achieved – the more of our own energy we produce through our own renewable sources, the greater we’ll be able to shield our customers from price hikes that come with an over-reliance on fossil fuels. It’s all part of our vision for a Green Britain,” he added.

The company currently powers over 75,000 homes and businesses and this year obtained permission for what will be the fourth largest wind park in England, at Heckington Fen in Lincolnshire.

Leigh Stringer