Good Energy supplies 100 percent renewable energy to homes and businesses across the UK. It invests in renewable energy including wind, solar, hydro and tidal and sources electricity from a wide number of local energy generators in South West England, including agricultural businesses such as Wyke Farms and Worthy Farm, Pilton – the well-known home of Glastonbury Festival.
The Bristol Pound is the first city-wide currency in the UK, the largest alternative to sterling and the first local currency to be used for paying taxes to Bristol City Council. The scheme is operated as a not-for-profit partnership with Bristol Credit Union and is one of the largest local currency schemes in the world.
The company made its announcement during Bristol Green Week, the city’s annual environmental festival which the company sponsors.
“We met with Bristol Pound two years to discuss paying energy bills with the local currency” said Good Energy founder and CEO Juliet Davenport, speaking at the company’s media call at Yurt Lush, just outside Bristol Temple Meads railway station. “It’s really important to establish a decentralised energy economy that becomes more local. This means there is more value for energy locally. We believe the future of energy is homegrown, sustainable generation which benefits communities and the planet and we’re incredibly excited to be leading the way by inviting our customers in Bristol to support green energy and their local economy at the same time. This is a world first. There’s simply nowhere else you can pay for your gas and electricity with a local currency.”
Bristol Pound CIC CEO and Director Ciaran Mundy added that the addition of Good Energy to the scheme is a major step forward for the city in that residents can now pay for energy services, along with other essentials such as food and transport, with money that supports the local economy while also fighting climate change by increasing the supply of renewable energy. Mr Mundy believes this sets a precedent for other utility companies to follow suit, using a currency that helps the rest of the economy go green.
“A greener and fairer economy is the opportunity we have today” Mr Mundy said. “We think this is an important first step in which we can move forward on tackling climate change.”
Bristol Mayor George Ferguson said that the Bristol Pound is a tangible demonstration of the way Bristol does things differently and that it has gone from strength to strength since it was first introduced. Good Energy employees will have the option of having part of their salary paid in Bristol Pounds and the company is also intending to use the currency to pay suppliers in the city, thereby completing the loop and ensuring that money is kept circulating in the local area.
Good Energy’s projected renewable electricity sourcing for 2014-15 consists of 58.9 percent from wind energy, 20.8 percent from solar, 4.1 percent from hydro and 16.3 percent from biogeneration. The company has calculated that if just ten percent of Bristol residents switched their supplier to Good Energy, it would be able to save 30,000 tonnes of CO2 every year, the equivalent of taking 18,900 cars off the roads.
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