SmartestEnergy is issuing 500 UK companies Energy Labels, which specify the source and carbon content of the clean electricity these companies buy. The labels are designed to boost the renewables industry and provide increased confidence to business consumers.
The labels look like the energy efficiency labels on fridges with an A to G rating and trace every megawatt they use to its source of origin. The labels were developed in response to demand from companies about greater transparency about where their energy comes from and their fear of accidentally ‘double counting’.
The Aldersgate Group of businesses calculated in 2014 that renewable energy labels could see low carbon electricity meet nearly half of all industrial and commercial demand by 2020, up from 14.4% to 48.3%. The group’s executive director, Nick Molho, commented: “The Aldersgate Group wrote the ‘Enable the Label’ report in 2014, proposing an electricity label to increase the transparency of energy bought by businesses in order to drive corporate demand for renewable electricity. It’s great to see one of the leading suppliers of renewable energy building on this work and bringing this much-needed tool to market. We hope this is the start of all UK suppliers providing an A-G rated label for the electricity they have supplied to their business customers, to help drive uptake of renewable electricity.”
SmartestEnergy worked with the Carbon Trust to make the labels. Every megawatt hour supplied is backed with an origin certificate, which is tracked and allocated in an Emissions Factor Model which has been certified by the Carbon Trust to be compliant with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Standard. The Trust’s managing director of advisory, Hugh Jones, said: “Businesses have an important role to play in ensuring the UK meets its carbon reduction targets and it is initiatives like this that are helping to empower businesses to choose renewable power. The Energy [Labels] provide businesses with the rigour and traceability they require to navigate the complexities of renewable energy and carbon reporting.”
SmartestEnergy’s chief executive officer Robert Groves commented: “We now supply over 3TWh of renewable power – equivalent to the power needed to operate all of the streetlights in the UK for three quarters of a year - all backed by origin certificates and evidenced by our Energy Labels, so the momentum for businesses to buy renewable is really growing. We call on other suppliers to provide the same level of clarity that we give our customers to help drive the renewables market and enable businesses to buy clean energy with confidence.”
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