Frequently Asked Questions

There are two simple ways to switch:

• Click here to get an instant price comparison and see how much we can save you
• Call one of our customer service advisors on 0800 954 0693 and they will do all the work for you

Once you have signed up with Co-operative Energy, you will be sent a confirmation email a few days later with your account details. If you have not received this email or can’t find your account number, simply call us on 0800 954 0693 or send an email to info@cooperativeenergy.coop

The easiest way to save money is to reduce the amount of energy you use. Click here for a list of ways to make your home more energy efficient. Another way to save money is to switch energy provider. At Co-operative Energy, we pride ourselves on offering our customers consistently competitive prices. Click here to see if we can save you money on your energy costs.

The switching process can take between 4 to 6 weeks. But don’t worry, we make it very easy by taking care of all the details and keeping you informed of progress. All we ask of you is that you submit your meter readings around the switchover date. We have a 10-day window where we can accept these readings, from 5 days before until 5 days after. Don’t worry if you are unable to submit readings to us during this time. We will request an estimated reading from your old supplier to open your account. View how switching works for more information.

The first step in the switching process is registration. Sign up online or by calling 0800 954 0693 and we’ll take care of the rest. You will then be sent your welcome letter by email or by post. This will include all your supply information such as your supply address, chosen product, expected switch date, Direct Debit amount and date for your first payment. Please make sure you check all the information on your welcome letter carefully, and let us know if you’d like to change anything. After receiving your welcome letter your seven-day ‘cooling off’ period starts. This is a legal requirement of the energy supply industry. During this time you have the right to let us know if you have changed your mind and decided not to join us. If we don’t hear from you within seven days, we will apply to take over your account from your old supplier. A few days before your switchover date we will ask you to send us a meter reading. Once received, we’ll send this off for checking with your old supplier. Once checked, we’ll open your account using this reading. Once your account is opened, the switching process is complete. You should receive your first statement within 4–6 weeks of being with us, unless you have requested paper statements, which will be posted quarterly.

If this happens, you’ll have to contact your old supplier directly. Unfortunately, we’re not allowed to contact them on your behalf. However, if you’re worried, contact us and we’ll give you some tips on what to say to them to ensure they close your account properly.

So that we can change your opening meter reading and ask your previous supplier to send you an amended final bill, we require two actual readings and they should be a minimum of two weeks apart. If your old suppliers’ estimates are very different – above 250kWhs for electric and 1200kWhs for gas – we are able to dispute them based on the two actual readings you have provided to us. To ensure you receive money back for what you have been charged by your previous supplier and not used, we may require further meter readings. Your previous supplier will amend their readings and be able to send you an amended final statement. This process can take up to 6 weeks and during this time you will not receive regular statements from us.

You have seven days to change your mind from the date you receive your Co-operative Energy welcome letter. If you do change your mind, call us on 0800 954 0693 to discuss your individual case.

If you change your mind after the seven-day cooling off period, it will be too late for us to stop the switch. If that happens, all you need to do is nominate another supplier and they will sign you up, which in turn will cancel your agreement with us.

To keep your energy consumption records accurate, we encourage all our customers to send us a monthly meter reading. This can be done by phoning us on 0800 954 0693.

We reward you with points for sending us meter readings. If you feel that you are unable to submit meter readings every month, don’t worry. We will just generate a month’s statement based on estimates, which can be balanced out as soon as you are able to provide us with an up-to-date meter reading.

The precise increase depends on where you live and how much energy you use. The average increase for an average consumer is 8.5% for gas and 9.0% for electricity . This equates to an increase of about £8.39 per month for an average dual fuel consumer.

From 9th May 2013 for all customers on supply on our Pioneer tariff. New customers who signed up on or after 12th February 2013 are already paying the new rates.

We have kept our prices low during the winter months when people use most energy. We were the only supplier to cut our electricity prices this winter and the only supplier to promise to freeze our prices throughout the winter months – until at least 15 April 2013 for existing customers.

The main reason we are increasing our prices now is that the costs we are charged to transport energy has increased by 12% from 1st April. We have also experienced a 5% rise in energy costs since our last price change in November. We need to increase our prices in line with these rises to ensure we continue to run a sustainable business for our members. If you require further information on the breakdown of our costs please refer to our website here.

The increased costs we are charged to transport energy are reflected in both the standing charge and the unit rate as this is how we are charged by our third party suppliers.

The standing charge also covers the costs of running an electricity or gas meter, such as the rental costs we are charged by the meter provider and the costs of meter readings.

Since we launched to the public in May 2011, we have increased the standing charge only once - by 2% in Sept 2012 - and this was reversed when we cut our electricity prices by 2% in December 2012.

After this increase, we will still be competitively priced against the big suppliers’ standard tariffs, which account for three quarters of all households, fulfilling our pledge to offer consistently competitive pricing.

Compared with the big suppliers’ standard tariffs, we are priced within the top two in eight of the fourteen regions of Great Britain (Source: energyhelpline 2nd April 2013).

We are owned by our customers, so we are not increasing prices to reward financial investors, but to build a successful energy business which can change the energy market for the better. Remember, if you have chosen to be a member of the Co-operative you will get two profit distributions a year. If you are not a member, you can join by visiting www.midcounties.coop.

Yes. We don’t want to lock anyone in to Co-operative Energy. You are free to leave at any time without exit penalty. But we hope that the way we treat customers and the way we keep our prices competitive, even after this increase, will persuade people that we are a good long term energy supplier for them.

Simply choose a new energy supplier and tell them you would like to switch to them. They will then sort everything out for you. They will tell us when your final bill is due and we will bill you up to that final date, settling any outstanding balance by agreement with you.
If you tell us before 9th May that you have chosen a new energy supplier, we will settle and close your account with us at the old rates.

If you are already on supply with us and you asked to switch to us on or before 11th February 2013, your prices will increase from 9th May 2013.
If you asked to switch to us on or after 12th February 2013, you are already paying these new rates so you will not be affected.

No, not as an immediate result of this price increase. We’ll continue to review all direct debit payment levels regularly to ensure they cover your consumption. We’ll write to you if we need to change the level of your direct debit. If you would like to stay on top of your energy bills and increase your monthly payment sooner rather than later, please contact us.

It might surprise you to know that our own costs at Co-operative Energy represent only about 10% of your energy bill. For more detail, click here. It’s our firm intention to keep tight control over those costs. We maintain a lean operation as a mainly online business.

We have included some practical tips on saving energy on our website here. We are also piloting a range of energy saving services, and will contact all customers as soon as these are available.

Whenever a price change occurs, our system creates a new ‘tariff version’ that is used for all units you consume after the date of the price change.

When a bill is produced for a customer for a period that spans the effective date of the price change – in this case 9th May - the bill is split into charging periods before and after that date. An estimated meter reading is produced for the date of the change. This is calculated by pro-rating on a straight line basis per day between the nearest available reading (whether a customer’s own reading, a meter operator reading or an estimated reading) before and after the effective date of the price change.

Consumption is then calculated for each charging period (before and after the date of the price change) using the prices that were in effect for that period. This is clearly indicated as separate charging lines on the bill, together with the pro-rated estimate of consumption.

If an actual or deemed reading is received at a later date that shows the pro-rated estimate to be incorrect, then a cancel/re-bill takes place.

The best thing you can do is submit a meter reading online or over the phone close to 9th May. Remember if you do it online, we reward you with 25 points (one award per calendar month per fuel type). So, if you are a really diligent dual fuel customer, you can earn up to 600 points a year just by submitting regular meter readings.

If you are worried about paying your energy bills, please contact us and we’ll do our best to help.
For impartial information and advice about changing your energy supplier, we suggest you call the Citizens’ Advice Consumer Service on 08454 04 05 06 or visit www.adviceguide.org.uk

Further information about this price increase can be found in a short video which you’ll find at http://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/ourprices

You can view prices for your region in our price tables. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please call us on 0800 954 0693.

To give our customers certainty and peace of mind at a time of year when energy bills are rising, we are promising not to increase our prices until Spring 2013 (15 April 2013 to be precise) at the earliest. Depending on market conditions at that time, we might be able to extend the price freeze for longer.

This offer applies to existing customers who signed up to Co-operative Energy before 12th February 2013.

We last changed our prices on 1 August 2012 to cover the extra costs we’re charged by our regulator for transmission and distribution of energy.

Energy is a volatile commodity, as volatile as share prices. Wholesale market energy costs fluctuate all the time. Although we will try and keep our prices as stable as possible for as long as possible, we may sometimes need to change them.

When you sign up to Co-operative Energy, we buy your energy upfront for at least three months. So when costs rise, we don’t have to raise our prices immediately. Instead, we can give you plenty of notice and guarantee to keep your price unchanged for at least one month, to give you time to shop around if you want to. That’s part of our policy of openness, honesty and transparency. But when prices fall, we’ll pass the benefit on to you straight away.

A variable price means that your energy prices may rise or fall in line with the wholesale market, although we try to avoid changing our prices too frequently. If we increase our prices, we’ll give you 30 days' advance notice. If we reduce our prices, we’ll apply them across the board to all customers straight away.

Most suppliers offer fixed price products, a bit like fixed rate mortgages. A fixed price means that, regardless of whether short-term wholesale energy costs rise or fall, you will always pay the unit price you signed up to, for the duration of the agreement, which can be one, two or three years.

At Co-operative Energy, we want to be open, honest and transparent with all our customers. The standing charge covers the cost of supplying services to your address. This covers part of the cost of the pipes and power lines that carry the energy to your home. With a standing charge, it means we don’t have to use two-tier prices like other suppliers do. We think our way is simpler and fairer.

It means the unit price and service charge are guaranteed not to change up or down before the end date on the tariff name, for example 31 July 2013. In return, if you cancel the contract before then, we will charge an early cancellation fee of £30 (including VAT) per fuel. If you don’t want to make that commitment and prefer the simplicity of Pioneer, which has no exit penalties, you might prefer the flexibility which that tariff offers.

We'll contact you at least 30 days before the end of the fixed term with details of your options at that time. We'll make sure you have plenty of time to decide.

No, they are fixed.

No. Unit rates and service charges on the fixed rate tariff won’t go up or down.

We can fix your prices for 12 months by committing to buy all your energy now at today’s prices. So if you cancel early, we will have bought too much energy for the next 12 months and we may not be able to sell the excess on the markets at the same price. So the early cancellation fee covers our administration costs and any losses we might incur on the energy you will no longer need from us.

If you are on the fixed rate tariff and wish to cancel the contract, you can do so at any time by giving us 28 days' or more notice.

If for whatever reason you choose to cancel the contract before the end date on the tariff name (for example, 31 July 2013), we will charge an early cancellation fee of £30 (including VAT) per fuel. This will appear on your final bill.

If you cancel because you are moving home, we will re-credit the cancellation fee if you choose Co-operative Energy as your new supplier at your new home within three months of the cancellation.

If you cancel because you want to switch to another Co-operative Energy tariff, we will still charge you an early cancellation fee. This is because we can only offer you the very competitive prices on the fixed rate tariff by being certain that the energy we have bought for the 12 months duration of that tariff will match our customers’ needs. If you don’t stay on the tariff for 12 months, we will have bought too much energy, and we might not be able to sell the excess back to the market at a good price.

No

Yes

You are free to cancel your fixed rate tariff before the end date on the tariff name, for example 31 July 2013, but you will be charged an early cancellation fee of £30 (including VAT) per fuel if you do.

Your energy supply from Co-operative Energy is governed by a legal contract which is on page 2 of your welcome pack. The contract should be read in conjunction with our standard terms and conditions, which are reproduced here

You have seven days to change your mind. All you have to do is put it in writing – by email or letter.

After this time, we’ll still respect your wish to change, but it might take a little time to halt the switching process, depending where we’ve got to with it. Give us a call on 0800 954 0693 to discuss your individual case.

So that we can change your opening meter reading and ask your previous supplier to send you an amended final bill, we require two actual readings and they should be a minimum of two weeks apart. If your old suppliers’ estimates are very different – above 250kWhs for electric and 1200kWhs for gas – we are able to dispute them based on the two actual readings you have provided to us. To ensure you receive money back for what you have been charged by your previous supplier and not used, we may require further meter readings. Your previous supplier will amend their readings and be able to send you an amended final statement. This process can take up to 6 weeks and during this time you will not receive regular statements from us.

Before we opened your account, you should have received a reminder from us asking you to submit your opening meter readings within 5 days before or after the supply start date. If we do not receive these readings within that time, we would have been unable to submit them to your previous supplier for verification and an estimated meter reading will have been used. If you would like to call us on 0800 954 0693, one of our customer service advisors will be able to help.

We’ll aim to read your meters twice a year. It’s still important for you to submit your own meter readings – ideally every month – to ensure we’re charging you as accurately as possible. This can be done online, and we’ll reward you with points for every meter reading you send in. However, even if you send us lots of meter readings, our meter readers will still need to come around because, for safety reasons, we need to have a trained person take a reading from you at least every two years.

If your account is showing a large credit (defined as a cash balance equal to two calendar months direct debit payments), we are very happy to refund this amount back to you if you ask us. We will also review your direct debit level every six months to ensure it is set at the right level. Please be aware that in the Spring and Summer months, you should expect to be in credit because your energy consumption will be lower and your direct debit is at a constant level. Conversely, in the winter months, you would expect not to be in credit. So, we have to take a whole year view when assessing requests for refunds. Once approved, your refund should be in your bank account by the end of the following week.

Your direct debit will be calculated based on the price estimate we gave you before you signed up. We divide this amount into:

• 12 equal payments over the year if you are paying by monthly direct debit. Each payment will be taken on the 5th, 15th or 25th of each month, depending which choice you selected when you signed up.
• 13 equal payments over the year if you are paying by four-weekly direct debit. Each payment will be taken every four weeks on a Friday, starting with the Friday you selected when you signed up.
• 26 equal payments over the year if you are paying by fortnightly direct debit. Each payment will be taken every two weeks on a Friday, starting with the Friday you selected when you signed up.

We will review your direct debit amount every 6 months because we want to make sure your direct debit is always accurately reflecting your actual consumption. We recommend to all our customers that they check their statements to make sure their meter readings are accurate.

We estimate what your direct debit level should be from your energy consumption history, which we get when you join us. It always helps though, if you also supply us with a meter reading when you join. We may need to adjust your direct debit payment up or down as we get more accurate information about how much energy you normally use. If we need to adjust your direct debit, we’ll let you know in plenty of time. Adjusting your direct debit payment is not the same as us changing our unit prices. Adjusting your direct debit payment is simply to make sure you don’t get too far in arrears or credit.

If there’s a problem with your statement, please call us on 0800 954 0693. Our customer service advisors will work hard to get to the bottom of any issue as quickly as possible. It will usually help if you have a meter reading handy when you call.

If you have not supplied a meter reading in time for your next quarterly statement, we will use an estimated reading. If you believe this estimate is too high or too low, please submit a meter reading online as soon as possible so that we can update your records. Any adjustments will then be reflected in the next scheduled statement.

To reduce the amount of paper we use, we send your statement via email. If you haven’t received an electronic copy of your statement, let us know. We’ll send you another copy immediately and do our best to find out what went wrong in the first place. Please remember to check your junk email folder, as our email may have been diverted there. If you would like to receive your statement by post, please ask.

If you need to request a copy of a statement, contact us or call us on 0800 954 0693. As we are trying to reduce the amount of paper we use, we will send your copy statement via email.

The first thing to do is call us on 0800 954 0693. We’ll do everything we can to help you work things out. For wider advice and information on money worries, you might find these organisations helpful:

• The Debt Advice Trust – 0800 954 6549
• The National Debtline – 0808 808 4000
• Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) – 0800 138 1111
• Community Legal Advice (CLA) – 0845 345 4 345
• Your local Citizens Advice Bureau

The Warm Home Discount Scheme is a Government programme, operated through the big six energy suppliers, to pay certain qualifying elderly customers a rebate of £130 towards their winter 2012/2013 electricity bills. To qualify you must be in receipt of the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit. Because we are a new supplier, Co-operative Energy is not required to participate in this scheme. However, to help our vulnerable customers at this difficult time of year when energy costs are rising, we are choosing voluntarily to establish our own scheme.

If you came on supply with Co-operative Energy on or before 21 July 2012 and you think you might have been eligible for the Warm Home Discount Scheme, please contact us and we will add you to our register.

If you came on supply with Co-operative Energy after 21 July 2012, you should contact whichever company was your supplier on 21 July as they are responsible

At Co-operative Energy we have what’s called a Priority Service Register. The PSR is a confidential register of people with special requirements; it allows us and our representatives to identify each customer with a special requirement and to help us improve our service. Any customer of a pensionable age, disabled or chronically sick can request to be placed on this register, enabling us to be made aware of customers who could be severely affected by the loss of their electricity or gas supply. If you feel that you are eligible for our Priority Service Register, contact us on 0800 954 0693 and we can go through the criteria over the phone or, if you prefer, we can post out a copy of our questionnaire for you to complete.

If you are of pensionable age, disabled or chronically sick, we offer the following services free of charge:

• If you or someone on your behalf ask us we will add you to our Priority Services Register. This will ensure that we let you know about the services we offer and that we and our representatives know about your requirements in case there’s an emergency;
• We will agree a password with you so that you can confirm the identity of anyone contacting you on our behalf such as an engineer from the local electricity network;
• If you would like someone to receive bills on your behalf and they agree, you can nominate them by giving us their name and address;
• If there is no one in your household able to read the meter, we can arrange for a meter reader to visit at least once every three months;
• If you are paying through a prepayment meter and you find that you can no longer access the meter to make payments, we can move the meter.

If you would like information about a bill, statement or service we provide, or to make a complaint, we offer the following services free of charge:

• If you are hard of hearing and have access to a textphone, you can call us through the text relay service by dialling 18001 0800 954 0693;
• You can always email us at info@cooperativeenergy.coop
• You can register with us to receive a regular talking bill or to receive your statements and letters in large print or Braille format.

If you’re a new customer, you can either sign up online by clicking here, or you can contact us on 0800 954 0693 and one of our customer service advisors will talk you through the procedure.

If you’re an existing customer and you would like us to supply your new property, all you need to do is contact us to register your new address. This process will take us 4–6 weeks to complete.

You should take a meter reading as soon as you move into your new property and give it to whichever supplier is currently supplying the property, to make sure they don’t keep charging you. If you don’t know which supplier is currently supplying the property, call us and we will look it up on the national database.

If you are moving home and you need to close your account with Co-operative Energy, give us a call on 0800 954 0693 or send an email to info@cooperativeenergy.coop and provide us with the following details:

• The date you have moved or are moving
• A meter reading for that date, or a date near it
• Your new address or forwarding details
• Your new contact telephone number

We would also like to know, if you have their permission:

• The name of the new occupier and their contact telephone/email address
• The expected moving in date of the new occupier, if known
• The name and address of the landlord, if there is one

To find out how to read your meters, please click here to visit out how to read your meter page.

For customers who signed up on or after 11 May 2012, Co-operative Energy is contacting you through Short Message Service (SMS) to help make the process of providing opening meter readings a whole lot easier. All you need to do is text GAS or ELEC followed by a space and your opening meter reading to 60033.

This service is not yet available to customers who signed up before 11 May 2012 or for meter readings other than opening meter readings used to start your supply with Co-operative Energy.

The 60033 short code is not a premium number and you will not be charged for any text messages you receive from us. However, if you reply with your gas or electricity reading, these messages will be charged at your standard network rate, and you should be aware that most operators do not include these within their contracted text allowance. For more information on your standard network rate and contracted text allowance, please contact your network provider.

Our SMS message service gives you the option of unsubscribing at any time. To unsubscribe, simply text COOP. As above, this message will be charged at your standard network rate.

A smart meter is a meter for measuring gas, electricity or water consumption (or any combination), which is able to send regular and accurate readings to the supplier without the need to have a meter reader call in person. A smart meter can eliminate the need for estimates and reduce the issues that often cause customer dissatisfaction, such as inaccurate bills. A smart meter can also inform the householder of their consumption in real time, encouraging energy efficient behavior. A smart meter may also be able to inform certain non-time-critical appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines when to run and when not to run, depending on energy prices and national energy demand at any particular point in time.

The government wants to see smart meters installed in every UK household by 2019. This will be the responsibility of energy suppliers like us, so don’t worry, you won’t have to do anything. The rollout programme and the charging structure have not yet been agreed, nor have the national standards and engineering protocols which suppliers must adhere to. Until all this detail is resolved, we don’t plan to roll out smart meters to our customers because we don’t want to risk wasting money on smart meters that turn out to be non-compliant with the finally agreed standards. We will continue monitoring the progress of the government’s smart meter rollout programme and take a decision on our policies as soon as they are finalised.

Some suppliers have already installed their own versions of smart meters, sometimes called Advanced Domestic Meters. Please note that, if you have one of these meters, we are unable to use them to take meter readings ourselves remotely. The meter will still measure your daily consumption and you will still be able to submit meter readings to us. However, this will have to be done manually over the phone or online through your secure online account.

Customers of Co-operative Energy can choose to become members of The Midcounties Co-operative, the co-operative which owns Co-operative Energy. Members of Midcounties are the legal owners of Midcounties; they appoint the board of directors and they decide how profits are used.

One of the main benefits of being a member of Midcounties is that you will receive points for every £1 you spend on energy. Points are valued twice a year based on Midcounties’ profits and their value is paid out to customers as vouchers or as a credit on your energy account.

Yes, Midcounties is one of a number of co-operative businesses that share a common brand. Perhaps the best known is The Co-operative Group based in Manchester which owns The Co-operative Bank and many co-operative stores around the country.

No. If you are already a member of one of the following co-operatives, you do not need to become a member of Midcounties to benefit from a share of profits because we have reciprocal arrangements with these other co-operatives to pay your share of profits on our behalf. Just tell us your membership number when you sign up and we’ll see to all the rest.You can tell which co-operative you are a member of by looking at the first few digits of your membership number on your membership card.

Name of Co-operative	First digits of membership number	Contact phone number for membership enquiries
The Co-operative Group	63317491 to 94	0800 023 4708
Midcounties Co-operative	63317495	0800 435 902
Midlands Co-operative	63317496	01543 414140
Southern Co-operative	6331749801 to 849	0800 652 0124
Anglia Co-operative	63317497	0845 241 0433
Chelmsford Star Co-operative	6331749850 to 899	01245 490101

Every time you spend £1 on energy, we credit your membership account with one point. In addition, we add 25 points for each meter reading you send each month (that’s 25 points per fuel per month; maximum 50 points per month). You will also earn points on other purchases you make in Midcounties and these other co-operatives:

The Co-operative Group

Midlands Co-operative

Southern Co-operative

Anglia Co-operative

Chelmsford Star Co-operative

Every six months, our members decide how much profit Midcounties should distribute to members, bearing in mind the need to reinvest some profits in the business to fund future growth. The amount which members decide to distribute is divided up amongst members pro rata to how many points each member has accumulated.Points accumulated in the trading period February to July are converted into a share of profits and paid out in November. To avoid us having to pay out small amounts, which would not be cost effective, amounts of less than £2.00 and odd pence are carried forward to the next trading period. Points accumulated in the trading period August to January are converted into a share of profits and paid out in June, along with any carry forward from the previous trading period.

Click here for a diagram which explains the timings for accumulating points and receiving their value.

Unless you choose otherwise, we send out your share of profits in the form of shopping vouchers, which we post to your home address. You can use your vouchers in any of the outlets displaying the co-op membership logo where they can be redeemed or exchanged for cash. You will need to have your membership card with you to use the vouchers.

If you would prefer to have your share of profits credited against your next energy bill, which some members find more convenient, visit www.midcounties.coop or call our membership help line on 0800 435902. At the moment, this facility is only available to members of Midcounties and not to members of other co-ops.

You can also donate your share of the profits to charity, and may choose up to three of our supported charities. You can also choose to donate your share of the profits to our Community Fund, which distributes grants to local community projects and organisations. To change your payment method for your share of the profits, please visit www.midcounties.coop or call our membership help line on 0800 435902.

If you are a member of Midcounties, visit www.midcounties.coop and click “Already a member”. Then click “Register now” to receive your first automated password needed to log in.

If you are member of another co-op, contact their help lines or visit their websites:

Name of Co-operative	First digits of membership number	Contact phone number for membership enquiries
The Co-operative Group	63317491 to 94	0800 023 4708
Midcounties Co-operative	63317495	0800 435 902
Midlands Co-operative	63317496	01543 414140
Southern Co-operative	6331749801 to 849	0800 650 0124
Anglia Co-operative	63317497	0845 241 0433
Chelmsford Star Co-operative	6331749850 to 899	01245 490101

As part of its policy to tackle climate change, the Government has introduced financial support for households which install low carbon electricity generating technologies, such as photovoltaic cells and wind turbines. The financial support takes the form of a guaranteed payment, known as a “feed-in tariff”, for the amount of electricity generated. The Government has delegated to energy suppliers the task of administering the feed-in tariff.

If you would like more information about Co-operative Energy’s feed-in tariff payment scheme, please email fit@cooperativeenergy.coop

For more impartial information about feed-in tariffs, please go to the Energy Saving Trust website here

We are enthusiastic supporters of renewable energy. We buy as much of our electricity as possible from renewable generators and we invest in new renewable energy generators, such as West Mill Wind Farm near Swindon, which is itself run as a co-operative.

However, we are not committing to source all our electricity from renewable generators for two reasons. Firstly, as we become a bigger supplier in the UK energy market, we do not believe that renewable energy will satisfy all our demand at an affordable cost. Secondly, we believe that an holistic solution is needed if the UK is to meet its challenging carbon reduction targets by 2020, including energy saving and other low carbon technologies.

We have committed to a stretching low carbon target which is explained here

The events in Japan in March 2011 serve as a powerful reminder of the risks of nuclear power. In recent years, nuclear power has been promoted by governments around the world as a low carbon energy source which will be a necessary part of the solution to tackle climate change. Many governments are now revisiting that policy, but with an emphasis on safety reviews rather than outright abandonment.

Co-operative Energy is pledging to have a fuel mix for electricity which has less than half the national average of carbon. This is a continuous improvement target, becoming ever more challenging to achieve, and helping to drive down carbon consumption as we become a larger player in the industry.

Our current policy on nuclear power is to leave open the possibility that we may buy electricity generated by nuclear power stations in order to meet our low carbon target if we cannot source enough renewable energy at an affordable price. This is hypothetical. In the year ending 31 March 2012, 100% of our electricity came from renewable energy.

We will monitor closely the UK government’s policy on nuclear power and keep you informed of our position on this. In the meantime, we will disclose our fuel mix on our website and say as much as we can about where we are buying our energy from.

Our first priority is to help our customers to reduce demand for energy through energy efficiency measures.

Our second priority is to meet that reduced demand with minimal environmental impact. This means sourcing our energy from low carbon fuels, which is reflected in our low carbon target: to keep the carbon emissions from the electricity generated for our customers at below half the national average.

We actively support renewable and very low emissions energy technologies; we do not seek to encourage the exploitation of fossil fuels, especially carbon-intensive fuels such as coal and oil.

However we recognise that, in the shorter term, the use of some fossil fuel is unavoidable. Therefore, where we do procure fossil fuels such as gas for our customers, our aim is to ensure the minimum environmental impact.

Shale gas and the technique of ‘fracking’ does pose considerable environmental risk, and in many cases has proven environmental impact. However, these techniques are extensions of techniques used in, for example, the North Sea for decades. Emotive language can obscure the difference between responsible and irresponsible practice in shale gas extraction.

We oppose the exploitation of any fossil fuel without the most rigorous regulatory and legislative framework to protect the environment. Evidence is that in some countries such protection is not in place and we do not buy gas from those countries. We would also not buy gas from suppliers who chose not to maintain the highest standards of environmental protection or who chose to ignore the democratic will of the local population who live in the vicinity of the extraction site.

I think I can smell gas, what should I do? Click here.

I have no electricity, what should I do? Click here.