Green energy scheme link up with RSPB

For each household that switches to ‘RSPB Energy’, the RSPB will receive £10 – £20 for each electricity customer and £10 for each gas customer registered. The RSPB will also receive £5 for each electricity customer and £5 for each gas customer for every year they remain in the scheme. RSPB will use the funds to purchase land for nature reserves. Additionally a special ‘new renewables fund’ will be established, jointly managed by Scottish and Southern Energy and the RSPB, to support new renewable energy projects in the future.

The scheme will provide low-priced gas and renewable electricity, none of which receives any subsidy from the UK Government. And, unlike other green schemes which charge a premium of up to ten per cent for renewable electricity, RSPB Energy will cost no more than conventional electricity products and, in fact, offers savings on gas.

Scottish and Southern Energy guarantees that 98 per cent of all RSPB Energy customers will pay no more than the electricity prices currently charged by their local electricity company for standard general domestic and Economy 7 electricity tariffs.

The amount of electricity used by RSPB Energy customers will be matched by renewable electricity from hydro, waste resources and wind. It is estimated that if all the RSPB’s 600,000 member households sign up, they could reduce CO2 emissions by more than one million tonnes.

Jim Forbes, Scottish and Southern Energy chief executive said: “We are already seen as a leader in the ‘green’ electricity market, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the renewable electricity generation market in the UK through our hydro schemes. This is a tremendous new product for customers and will be an important stimulus to competition in the recently opened energy markets. It enables us to increase our commitment to the environment, encourage demand for renewable electricity and gain valuable new customers.”