Good news for electricity customers

Customers will soon be receiving statements from their electricity supplier telling them where their electricity comes from. This means they will have the evidence to become more choosy about its origins.

Ofgem has published the final draft of its guidelines today on this subject.

The statement will show how much of your electricity comes from coal, natural gas, nuclear, renewable and other sources. For some customers, it may be surprise!

The guidelines say:

• The first year in which the relevant information must be supplied to customers is from 1 October 2005 to 30 September 2006, referring to electricity supplied from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005.
• Suppliers are required to publish fuel mix information at least annually to each customer that receives a bill or a statement, provided that the licensee has supplied electricity for a full disclosure period.
• The DTI will publish a Fuel Mix Disclosure Data Table every 1 August.
• Suppliers should tell you the amounts of CO2 emissions, and radioactive waste generated from each source.

The Low Carbon Kid hopes this will wake a lot of people up to the impact of their lifestyles, and get them to change to renewable tarriffs.

In combination with the requirement for homes to have Energy Labels from June 2007, it may also encourage them to be more energy efficient.