Switch to a Green Energy Supplier in the UK – 7 Great Options

It’s becoming more and more popular for environmentalists and non-environmentalists to consider switching their energy provider to one of the best green energy suppliers. I switched to Bulb in 2019 and it was such a simple process that I recommend having a look at the various providers below and doing the same yourself.

There’s a lot of different options for best green energy suppliers in the UK. I have put together a list of the best green energy suppliers currently, so you can choose which is suitable for your family.

This post may contain affiliate links which means I make a small profit if you buy through my link. I would never recommend something I didn’t believe in or wouldn’t buy myself, thank you for your support.

Why Do We Need To Switch To Green Energy

Fossil fuels

Something that I hadn’t considered until 2019 was that most of the main energy providers in the UK such as N Power, Eon, EDF, BP and British Gas are all powered by fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. This means that even if you switch to a green energy plan with your current supplier, you are still funding fossil fuels. It would be better environmentally to switch to one of the best green energy suppliers available in the UK.

This article from the Guardian lists 20 of the firms responsible for a third of the worlds carbon emissions due to their use of fossil fuels. Among these are well known names such as Chevvron, Exxon, BP and Shell.

The top 20 companies on this list have contributed to 35% of all energy related carbon emissions worldwide. Totalling 480bn tonnes of carbon monoxide equivalent (gtCO2e) since 1965 which is shocking!

If you are wondering if your bank also funds the fossil fuel industry, click here.

Something more positive in this Guardian article, it states that 38.9% of the UK’s electricity in 2019 was from renewable green energy. This is due to a few coal power plants in the UK closing down only leaving 4 in the UK. It also states that the UK’s offshore windfarms generated more energy than the onshore windfarms that year.

What Is Fracking

In case you aren’t aware fracking is the process of drilling into the earth, before a high pressure water is directed at the rock to release natural gas. It’s called fracking because it refers to how the rock is fractured apart by the high pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals.

The main environmental concerns with fracking is that it can trigger earth tremors and it uses a huge amount of water in the process. Another concern that many environmentalists have is that the carcinogenic chemical mixture used can contaminate water supplies in the surrounding areas.

I’m not a scientist obviously but to me it just sounds like we’re messing with things that we shouldn’t be and renewable green energy should be our future not fracking for oil or shale gas.

Avoid wasting energy

Obviously the other thing to consider is not wasting the energy you use. I’m not sure about the rest of the world but Smart meters are being fitted a lot throughout the UK to monitor more closely the energy we use. If you don’t have a smart meter some things we can do is as follows:

• Take shorter showers ( 2-4 minute egg timers can be useful for this)
• Wash your clothes less and on a cooler cycle such as 30 degrees. In my house we wash everything on 30 and it really does clean just as well.
• Only put your heating on when you need it. I am trialling this winter, setting the thermostat to 18 so that it only kicks in when the temperature drops below that. The idea is that your home keeps a constant temperature so it saves you money and energy.
• If you own your home, ensuring you have fully functioning double glazing and a well insulated loft can also save you money and keep your home warmer, therefore saving energy at the same time. (There are schemes in the UK such as the Warm Home scheme which if you are on benefits you can get a back payment of £140 or there are also green home grants that the government fund for landlords or home owners to make their home more energy efficient)
• Although things that generate heat use a lot more energy in the home, it’s a good habit to turn off lights and plugs in the home too. I go into more detail about reducing your environmental impact while on the internet and my favourite eco friendly products here.

Advanced eco-friendly habits

There are more more advanced eco-friendly habits that I do if this interests you. I try to have much cooler showers and shower and wash my hair weekly to reduce my impact. I understand that this is not possible for everyone and that’s ok.

Our water system in the house also takes a long time to get hot water coming through the tap so we boil the kettle to do the washing up. I personally avoid turning on the warm tap unless I am specifically washing my hands etc.

It might seem such a small thing but I don’t like to waste water or the energy that is used to heat the water and I’ve done this for years so I just do it instinctively.

Best Green Energy Suppliers

There’s a common misconception that the best green energy suppliers are more expensive and although some are on the pricier side like Ecotricity some you can actually save money on. It pays to get a few quotes and see what you can get. Some green energy suppliers in the UK have incentives for you to switch to them as well so keep an eye out for those!

Bulb

Bulb use 100% renewable electricity from solar, wind and hydro and their gas is 100% carbon neutral as they offset the emissions by supporting carbon reduction projects throughout the world. Plus some of the gas they use comes from renewable sources such as food and farm waste as well.

They’re very simple with their price plans as well and just have variable plans and no exit fees.

Ecotricity

Ecotricity was the worlds first green energy suppliers in the UK. The same as Bulb they have 100% renewable electricity and carbon neutral gas and they aim to be fully carbon neutral by 2025.

Ecotricity has also built a network of electric car charging points along Britain’s motorways. I’ve watched a YouTube video of someone renting an electric car and they commented that most of the points they stopped to charge, were Ecotricity charging points.

They have supported anti fracking companies in the UK by funding their work and money from customer’s is used to build wind turbines and solar parks.

I didn’t know this until researching but Ecotricity is the only energy supplier to be recognised by the Vegan Society as being vegan energy. As everything that goes into their energy is free from animal products which is really cool!

Good Energy

Good Energy is another supplier of 100% renewable electricity and carbon neutral gas. They are very transparent on their website and list that 18% of electric is from solar, 20% biogen, 57% wind and 5% hydro.

10% of their gas is biogas from breaking down organic matter such as farm waste and they also invest in carbon reduction projects to be able to offer carbon neutral gas.

Good Energy sources 10% of their energy from SmartGen customers as they believe in supporting independent generators and paying competitively for the energy they export.

They also have a Feed-in Tariff which is a payment for those that generate their own green energy which is a great incentive.

Green Star Energy

The first thing I noticed on their website is that they are now a part of Shell Energy which doesn’t sit well with me, however I wanted to list them as an option nonetheless.

They have 100% renewable electricity and they offset 2 tonnes of carbon emissions each year. Green Star Energy also plants 2 trees in the UK on behalf of each customer and helps reforestation in the Amazon due to their carbon reduction projects.

They also have a Perks Plus plan which means you can exchange points for discounted energy and water saving devices for the home.

LoCO2

LoCO2 was a new one to me, they were founded in 2009 although it’s parent company has been around since 1997. They have access to hydro electric power sources due to it’s sister company TLS hydro. They are a small independent supplier of electricity only.

They have tariff options: 100% renewable electricity and another option of 80% natural gas and 20% renewable. However, the natural gas is combined heat and power generation rather than reliance on harmful fossil fuel burning. So they are low in carbon emissions so still an option for environmentally conscious that perhaps have a tighter budget.

Octopus Energy

Another great 100% renewable electricity option. Octopus started in 2016 and since then they’ve gained 30,000 customers a month.

They state that their prices are fair and transparent and they don’t lock you into a contract. They have 100% green electricity with the option to offset carbon emissions from gas.

They have a lot of revolutionary tariffs such as Octopus Go a tariff which is cheaper at night to suit those needing to charge an electric vehicle. They even lease electric vehicles which I find really interesting, maybe one day in the very distant future…

OVO Energy

Another great green energy option, OVO Energy 100% renewable electricity and plants a tree every year for each customer.

They have the incentive of £25 credit if you join on a fixed plan.

They aim to be net zero carbon 2030 and they have interest rewards 3-5% if your account is in credit.

Within their fleet they’re aiming to increase the amount of EV’s to 70% by the end of 2020 and they’re aiming for 100% by 2025. They have a Plan Zero which includes holding the government accountable. They want the government to bring forward policies that incentivise using new energy technologies. OVO also want the government to bring forward the ‘every new car electric’ date to 2030 and they also want EV charge points on every street.

Which one I use

Bulb

When I was looking to switch in 2019 the only ones I was aware of were Bulb, Octopus and Ecotricity – they seemed very similar so I picked Bulb (referral) based on the fact that they were the cheapest. They could offer a reduced price to what I was paying with N Power (the provider that was set up to my rented property).

The switch to one of the best green energy suppliers was easy and I noticed on their website that they would refund any cancellation fees from my current provider which I thought was great.

With Bulb you pay in advance and they just let you know from meter readings if everything is covered each month based on readings from the Smart meter fitted.

I still think Bulb are a great option even though there are a lot of other options at the moment as you can see. At the moment I’m fairly confident that we have the cheapest provider and I won’t be looking to switch.

If you decide to go with Bulb the above link is a referral link so we would both get £50 credit if you switch.

Although this green energy UK supplier is what I went for, I will admit that there are other companies which can still be considered the best green energy supplier and if you get a quote you might find one that’s more suitable for you from my list.

I hope you enjoyed by blog post with the best green energy suppliers in the UK. Let me know in the comments. Check out my innovative inventions post, for inventions that could save the planet.

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