I just switched to 100% renewable energy and saved £300 a year

I found out this week that I can switch to 100% renewable electricity and save £300 a year!

As part of our efforts on educating ourselves to educate others on energy consumption, alternative energy suppliers and going 100% renewable, we had arranged a meeting with Giovanna Speciale, from SELCE (South East London Community Energy),. SELCE is group of skilled Greenwich and Lewisham residents who share a vision: a low carbon future in which everyone can access affordable energy to meet their needs and has a voice in how that is produced.

At our meeting at the end of February we’d been asked to bring a laptop and our current energy bills. There was a brief explanation on what fuel poverty is, the health effects of fuel poverty and the work SELCE does to alleviate fuel poverty.

The key to avoid paying excessively is to compare energy suppliers regularly. There are other things that can be looked at such as payment options, tariff options and there may be discounts available.

We then went onto analyse our personal energy bills with the focus being:

Tariff types: standard, variable, fixed, prepayment.

1. Unit price

2. Standing charge price

3. Estimated annual consumption.

We were asked to check a comparison site, something independent such as Citizens Advice or USwitch and input the data gathered from our bills to see what type of discount and supplier we could change to.

To my surprise, not only I was able to save up to £300 per year but also I could go 100% renewable with a new Green Energy company 🙂

Some of us had prepayment meters which tend to be very expensive. Luckily there’s a way to change them, even if you are in rented accommodation.

We looked at insulation and other saving tips briefly as time had run out.

It was a very interesting and inspiring meeting.

Begoña Belmonte (Transition Ilford committee)