A row has broken out over new Ofgem guidelines designed to accredit green electricity tariffs offered to consumers by electricity suppliers.

While the "Big Six" energy firms have all signed up to the guidelines, some other electricity suppliers have said that the guidelines are still open to abuse.

The primary objection has been to the exclusion of larger renewable energy projects from the green tariffs, which some electricity firms have speculated may have been due to the double-counting of ROCs (Renewable Obligation Certificates) by suppliers.

Ofgem denied that it was excluding renewable energy, saying that it had offered suppliers "a number of options" and that community renewables projects will be included in the tariffs.

"This process has taken two years, and we have consulted with all stakeholders," said a spokesman for the regulator. "So it is not as if we have dumped these guidelines on the industry."

The regulator has published the guidelines in response to increasing concern that electricity companies were using renewable electricity purchased as part of the mandatory Renewables Obligation to be repackaged into "green tariffs".

The regulator said yesterday that it is intending to set up an independently monitored accreditation scheme.
Under the scheme, tariffs can only qualify as "green" if they offer additional "environmental benefits" beyond the supplier's legal obligation to buy renewable electricity and cut carbon emissions.

The benefits can include carbon offsetting and investment in community renewable energy projects, not the purchase of renewable electricity from larger projects.

Suppliers

Wind farm operator Ecotricity has refused to sign up to the guidelines, describing them as a "green wash".

The Gloucestershire-based firm has objected to the guidelines on the grounds they do not promote green renewable electricity, but focus on carbon offsetting and energy efficiency instead.

Ecotricity said in a statement: "Green electricity tariffs should be about green electricity first and foremost. In these guidelines Ofgem are accrediting everything you can imagine except the thing that really counts - green electricity. Of course we believe in planting trees, protecting wildlife and cutting carbon, all of these things have an important role to play - but not in green tariffs.

It continued: "Green tariffs and consumer choice of green-tariffs - people power - could play a crucial role helping us to reach government renewable energy targets. But Ofgem have sidelined the consumer in one fell swoop by excluding real green electricity from their definition of so-called green-tariffs."

However independent renewable energy supplier Good Energy has backed the guidelines, and has signed up to them alongside the Big Six.

Juliet Davenport, founder and chief executive of Good Energy, said: "We are pleased to see these guidelines emerge and to be the first independent supplier to have signed up. Good Energy has been calling for more formal guidelines on green supply for several years to allow customers to differentiate between genuine green tariffs and mere ‘greenwash'."

She added: "We are especially pleased that green claims will be subject to independent scrutiny, giving consumers confidence in what they are signing up to."

Under the new rules, suppliers will also have to provide a fuel-mix disclosure chart showing the percentage of each energy source they use, as well as a description of the additional environmental activity the supplier is undertaking over and above their requirements under the Renewables Obligation and the Carbon Emission Reduction Target.

Ms Davenport added: "Green tariffs are part of the movement to do their bit to support the movement to a low-carbon future. Hopefully the Ofgem scheme will help consumers have more confidence in the market as a whole."