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Green Energy for Business Project

Overview

This pilot project aims to encourage 25 local businesses to switch to renewable energy tariffs for their electricity supply. It is run by the Economics & Livelihoods Group in partnership with the Totnes & District Chamber of Commerce. The evaluation and feedback phases are now complete and the pilot project is no longer recruiting participants. If you want to get quotes for renewable energy for your business, please see the supplier details provided below.

Project outcomes

Participating businesses have been informed of potential cost savings  with 1-2 renewable energy suppliers. It was found that about half of participants could save money by switching to a renewable energy provider, with savings ranging from 5-30% depending on the tariff. In many cases, a 'mix' tariff which uses say 30% renewable energy plus 70% fossil fuel is significantly cheaper while still providing better environmental outcomes. 

We will contact each business regularly (probably quarterly) to see if they have switched and if not, to understand barriers to action other than cost. Rates change all the time and depend on supply types and therefore cannot be quoted here.

Summary info sent to participants

"We have quotes from 4 independent renewable energy suppliers* whose contact details are:

* there are lots of other suppliers but we chose these as they focus mainly on  renewable energy versus the main players such as British Gas, EDF. Note that some suppliers are considered more 'green' than others. If you want to know more about this see an independent evaluation at www.greenelectricity.org - you may need to enter your postcode to see all the info.

The quotes given were all ESTIMATES ONLY as suppliers need full supply and address for detailed quotes, and also note that PRICES ARE CHANGING OFTEN so already some of these may be out of date. The intent here is to show you if it looks like you could save money, or at least not lose money, by switching to green energy. But you can only confirm this by speaking to the suppliers yourself. 

There are lots of options, with different impacts on carbon emissions, which can be very confusing. You could have 100% renewable energy, or a mix of, say 75% fossil fuel and 25% renewable. This latter option is generally cheaper. Even switching to a 'mix' tariff has benefits. By switching, you are increasing the demand for renewable energy and making a real difference to carbon emissions, as well as avoiding the Climate Change Levy that you pay on fossil fuel based electricity. This also makes a great story for Totnes businesses, it's another part of our intent to be the most sustainable town in the UK." Note that actual quotes were provided to participants but will not be replicated here as they will already be out of date! Contact the suppliers below for current tariffs.

Contact

If you have any questions about this project please contact greenenergy.totnes@transitionnetwork.org 

The information below may help other Transition initiatives set-up and deliver a similar project.

Approach 

To recruit the participants, we went to visit a number of high street shops and businesses. We explained that they may be able to save money if they switch to a green tariff, as the pricing is becoming more competitive. A press release in the local paper encouraged more sign-ups and we used a flyer for promotion.

Each business provided a copy of a recent energy bill. From this we could usually establish current supplier and tariffs and typical consumption. We collected quotes from 4 green energy suppliers and then contacted each business individually to indicate how much they could save (if anything), with which supplier, and how to switch.

A case study will be produced to circulate around all other businesses to encourage them to act.

  

Need for project

To reduce carbon emissions it is important to encourage the demand for, and therefore supply of, renenewable energy for electicity, which will increasingly replace our fossil fuel power stations.  When a business (or home) signs up for a green tariff, they are still supplied through the grid, i.e., they are not directly attached to a wind turbine.

This means that fossil fuel will still be used for at least some of this energy. But the supplier is legally obliged to provide the total amount of energy used by the business/home from renewable sources. This increases the demand for renewable energy which will  lead to more installations, more research and more capacity being installed leading to longer-term carbon emission reduction.

Some suppliers have a greater impact that others on creating new supply infrastructure. For more information see here.

Project aim & objectives

Aim: to work with 25 businesses to see if we could increase the number of businesses on a green tariff in Totnes & District.

Objectives:

  • To raise awareness of the benefits of switching to renewable energy
  • To help organisations establish if it will save them money (or at least cost no more)
  • To encourage the businesses to take action and make the switch
  • To see if we can get better tariffs with a bulk switch

Outputs

This project will produce:

  • A list of local businesses that switched to a green tariff, or an understanding of why they didn't switch (in progress).
  • Quotes and contact details of suppliers that offer a tariff for green energy for businesses (complete).
  • Information about current comercial electricity consumption for participants (complete).
  • A case study for circulation to all other local businesses (once results are in after 3-6 months).

Benefits

  • Increased demand for renewable energy. 
  • Cost savings for (some) businesses through cheaper rates and removal of Climate Change Levy.
  • Increase business engagement with TTT.
  • A proven process that could be rolled out on a wider scale (resources permitting).
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