Meanwhile, many business owners across Ireland purchase guarantees-of-origin certificates, which say they are using 100 per cent renewable energy, only to discover that they are not the guarantee they thought they were, an issue which has now been raised as a cause for concern by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities .In reality, the market is complex, out of date and based on very different calculations and assumptions that no longer make sense.
Let’s consider the facts. Major suppliers can say with justification that they don’t use any gas in the supply of their power, but that same power has almost doubled in price because of the problems with the gas supply! Customers buying “green” electricity are, in effect, paying for a mathematical exercise, which energy suppliers complete with the CRU to have their supply badged green – commonly known as greenwashing.
You could be forgiven for thinking that this all sounds like a sleight of hand. In reality, the option to purchase GOs fails to incentivise end-users to support renewable asset development in Ireland. Renewable energy is subject to the same price fluctuation as fossil fuels, rendering the whole process somewhat wasteful and confusing.
Given that the customer may have been publicly claiming to be using 100 per cent renewable electricity, it is highly unlikely that they will want to revise that position and so are now locked into an ongoing liability without knowledge of their ongoing costs.