Ecotricity is an England-based company that supplies green energy primarily generated from wind turbines. Its roots date back in 1995 when its founder, Dale Vince, built his first windmill to power his home on a hill near Stroud. In the year 1996 and onwards, Dale along with several business partners pursued to build industrial wind turbines to generate and distribute renewable energy commercially to the British market. In light of that fact, Ecotricity became the world’s first green electricity company and substantially pave the way to what we globally call now as the green electricity movement.

Products

Pioneering the sustainable production and usage of green electricity, Ecotricity commits in delivering 100% renewable energy to its consumers. The company not just simply supply power, but they also contribute to the generation of around one fifth coming from its vast farms of windmills and sunmills. Alternatively, the remaining demand is consciously purchased from other green energy producers. 

Ecotricity also produces green gas. However, it is yet to evolve as completely ecological while the construction of their own gas mill is still on process. As part of their future plan, Ecotricity foresees the potential of grasses to become a sustainable source of green gas. For the meantime, their supply is only about 14% green but nevertheless sourced out frack-free.

To further promote its advocate against climate change, the company also looked into environmental concerns brought about by the transport system. Hence, Ecotricity built a national electric vehicle charging network called Electric Highway to support the use of eco-friendly electric cars instead of the typical carbon-emitting vehicles. The Electric Highway provides drivers with 100% green electricity to power their EVs for more sustainable and emission-free travel.

As for the latest breakdown of the fuel mix, the majority of the supply is from wind energy, 71.58% offshore and 27.60% inshore wind to be exact. In addition, 0.70% came from hydropower and as minute as 0.12% from solar. These data were based on Ecotricity’s total amount of electricity supply from April 2017 to March 2018.

Coverage

Ecotricity is currently operating over 24 wind parks and 74 turbines spread across Dundee and Ballymena down to Galsworthy Farm. Apart from that, there are still more wind, sun, and gas mill projects that are set to be established throughout the United Kingdom in the coming years. Ecotricity does continue to grow and expand its business further to efficiently supply green energy to its British consumers.

Cost

Due to Ofgem’s recent price cap update, the majority of energy companies were forced to lower their default tariffs to no more than £1,137 per year. However, exemptions were applied to renewable energy tariffs. That is due to the fact that certain firms, like Ecotricity, had established solid support towards the generation of renewable gas and electricity at a substantial degree. Moreover, the cost itself of supplying green energy for these tariffs is sensibly higher than the imposed maximum price cap. Hence, Ecotricity’s prices remained unaffected. At present, green gas and electricity would cost an average of £1,313 annually. Meanwhile, the electric vehicle and green gas bundle are slightly cheaper at £1,187 per year.

Green Gas & Electricity	Pay As You Go(PAYG)	Fully Charged Bundle
One simple rate100% green electricity14% green gasFrack-free promiseVegan energyNo contractNo exit fee PRICE QUOTE	Top up the meter with a prepayment key or card100% green electricity14% green gasFrack-free promiseVegan energyNo contractNo exit fee PRICE QUOTE	Discounted electricity rateHalf price EV charging on the Electric Highway100% green electricityExclusive discount on a Rolec Wallpod EV chargerSave over £400 in the first year PRICE QUOTE

Pros

• Vegan Energy – Ecotricity promises to deliver 100% vegan energy to its conscious consumers. This simply means that its electricity and gas supply does not involve the use of animals or any animal by-products. In fact, Ecotricity is the only energy company in the UK that is officially registered with The Vegan Society.
• Frack-free Green Gas – Fracking, otherwise known as “Hydraulic Fracturing”, is the process of drilling down the earth and pumping a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals into the boreholes at a high pressure to fracture the rocks and force the release of natural gas out into the surface. Ecotricity does not support any of this kind of activity due to its unsustainability and devastating environmental impacts. Instead, the firm promotes the process called anaerobic digestion and the use of “grass” as a major source of green gas. 
• Bills into Mills – Ecotricity strategically utilizes a percentage of money gathered from the customer’s bills to continue to fund the investments of new green energy sources and the development of sustainable projects. In that sense, people are not just mere consumers but an active supporter of green energy as well. 

Cons

Despite Ecotricity’s remarkable reputation to provide its British consumers with the greenest electricity and gas sources, there are still other aspects where the company might need further improvement. According to its Trustpilot rating, it had garnered an average score of 5.8. 

• Expensive – In general, it costs more to generate 100% green energy. Hence, Ecotricity charges higher than the typical electricity and gas suppliers to cope up with its production.
• Delayed Customer Service – Some of the customers complained of inconvenience in contacting the company’s support team either via phone or email. It took them multiple tries and lengthy waiting periods before the request for service is addressed and acted upon.
• Inaccurate Billing – There were several customers who reported inaccurate billing of their accounts. They claimed that they had been charged by the company far more than what they expect their actual consumptions were based on the meter readings.

Overall, Ecotricity is a company worthy of recognition for constantly thriving to supply the United Kingdom with the greenest energy possible. Further into their environmental conservation efforts, the company also strongly negates the process of hydraulic fracturing and the use of any animal by-products in the generation of their electricity and gases. However, sustainability at this point in time may also come with a hefty cost to develop. Notwithstanding, its benefits to our planet is absolutely undeniable and most importantly, priceless.