Ecotricity Tariff Reviews: Is Ecotricity Expensive?
Trying to find information about an Ecotricity Tariff? Wondering if a certain Ecotricity tariff is compatible with your Ecotricity smart meter? In this guide we break down all you need to know about Ecotricity tariffs, including which tariffs are no longer on offer and which ones will be arriving soon. Read on to discover more.
Ecotricity Tariff Options
Ecotricity UK is a green energy provider in the UK that is famous for its vegan energy tariffs.
That’s right, energy can be vegan! According to Ecotricity, their energy is classified as vegan because they use no animal byproducts to generate their energy. This means that their energy is also considered cruelty free.
While it may seem strange to mention animal byproducts when speaking about green energy, animal waste is often used to create green gas or biogas! Ecotricity’s green gas is made from plant waste, which means it’s vegan.
Want to know more? Check out our article on green gas for more information.
Ecotricity UK uses green gas in their gas mix, and while they currently supply only 6% green gas to customers on their green gas tariffs, they are working to raise that number to at least 10% within the coming years.
So if green, vegan energy sounds like something you are into, you’ll for sure want to hear about what green tariffs Ecotricity has to offer.
- Below we breakdown all Ecotricity tariffs including:
- Ecotricity tariff for credit meters
- Ecotricity tariff for top-up meters
- Ecotricity tariff for EV drivers
- Ecotricity tariff for businesses
- Ecotricity feed-in tariffs
Ecotricity Tariff for Credit Meters
There are two Ecotricity tariffs for customers with credit meters or an ecotricity smart meter:
- Green Electricity tariff
- Green Gas Tariff
A credit meter is used only for energy contracts that have bill payments, meaning you receive the bill each month and then pay it. However your Ecotricity smart meter can act as a credit meter or a top-up meter.
As an Ecotricity customer, you can choose to have only an ecotricity gas tariff or an Ecotricity electricity tariff.
You can also register for both Ecotricity tariffs and receive a dual fuel discount for having both electricity and gas provided by Ecotricity. Customers who have a gas tariff and an electricity tariff with Ecotricity will receive a £15 discount each year.
This bonus can be put toward reducing your energy bills. As an added benefit, each Ecotricity tariff comes with zero exit fees. This means that you can leave Ecotricity UK and move to another supplier without having to pay a penalty fee for leaving.
This is a major bonus for registering with Ecotricity for your energy.
Ecotricity Tariff for Prepayment Meters
For customers that have a prepayment meter, also known as a top-up meter, there are two ecotricity tariffs for you:
- Green Electricity PAYG
- Green Gas PAYG
The letters 'PAYG' in these Ecotricity tariff names stand for "Pay-as-you-go" and refer to prepaid tariffs or top-up tariffs.
If you have an Ecotricity smart meter, you can also register for these prepaid ecotricity tariffs, as Ecotricity is developing its Ecotricity smart meter capabilities to work with prepaid tariffs as well.
Bear in mind that customers on prepaid tariffs always pay more for their energy than those on normal billing tariffs. This is because prepaid tariffs, including these Ecotricity top-up tariffs, are all variable tariffs. This means that your Ecotricity rates are not fixed and change based on the market price for energy. Therefore your Ecotricity rates can go up or down depending on the energy market.
In 2021, customers on variable tariffs are the worst affected by the extreme rise in energy costs. See or guide to the 2021 energy crisis for more information.
For this reason, if you are looking to save money, Selectra agents always recommend looking into the option of switching to a fixed-rate tariff or an option with monthly billing, especially if you have an Ecotricity smart meter but are on a prepaid tariff.
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Ecotricity Tariff for EV's
You may see information around the web referring to Ecotricity's EV tariff. However, this information is incorrect as Ecotricity no longer offers its Ecotricity EV tariff.
Ecotricity used to offer their EV tariff especially for drivers of electric vehicles. The Ecotricity EV tariff came to an end in 2021 after Ecotricity UK sold the Ecotricity Electric Highway to its competitor Gridserve.
The Ecotricity Electric Highway was Ecotricity’s network of EV charging stations all across the UK. Ecotricity’s stake in the Electric Highway allowed them to also offer their green energy tariff with the optional EV tariff for owners of electric vehicles.
Therefore if you are searching for an EV tariff for your home, we recommend taking a look at our full list of green energy suppliers for more information.
Ecotricity Tariff for Businesses
Perhaps the best service that Ecotricity offers is their custom Ecotricity tariff option for businesses. Unlike Ecotricity’s residential energy tariffs, Ecotricity business tariffs are tailor-made to fit your business. This means that Ecotricity can create a tariff especially for your business, depending on its size and specific needs.
Ecotricity’s website claims that:
A business using 30,000 kWh would reduce its carbon footprint by 6 tonnes by switching to Ecotricity.This is because Ecotricity business energy tariffs come with the added option of calculating your businesses carbon footprint and developing a carbon offset plan to meet your needs.
When requesting a business energy tariff from Ecotricity UK, you will be assigned to a member of the Ecotricity business team who will be your point of contact to help you with any questions.
Selectra also offers carbon footprint calculation and carbon offsetting services for your business. See our Business section for more information.
Ecotricity Feed-in Tariff & Smart Export Guarantee
Ecotricity used to be part of the UK government’s feed-in Tariff scheme. However, the feed-in tariff program was cancelled in 2019. Only customers who registered for the Ecotricity feed-in tariff scheme before 2019 can continue receiving it.
The feed-in tariff scheme allowed home energy generators, such as households with solar panels, to sell excess electricity back to the grid for a small profit. Although the feed-in tariff scheme has ended, there is a new scheme called the Smart Export Guarantee that has recently been introduced to replace the feed-in tariff.
The Smart Export Guarantee is similar to the feed-in tariff in that home energy generators can sell energy back to the grid.
The main difference is that energy providers, such as Ecotricity UK, will now decide the conditions of the tariff and rates that customers receive for supplying energy back to the grid. Ecotricity will offer the Smart Export Guarantee in the near future, and plans are in the works to begin selling tariffs for the scheme. However, the Ecotricity Smart Export Guarantee is not currently active yet.
Pros & Cons of Ecotricity
Reviews given by Ecotricity UK Customers are mainly positive. However, there are some negative points customers mention. You can see the pros and cons of Ecotricity in the table below:
Ecotricity Pros & cons
Pros of Ecotricity
- 100% electricity from renewable sources
- No exit fees
- Offsets its carbon emissions
- Does not produce nuclear waste.
Cons of Ecotricity
- Long call wait times
- Does not offer green gas
- More expensive than the Ofgem price cap
Is Ecotricity Expensive?
In our recent green energy supplier comparison, Selectra found that Ecotricity UK came in at 32% higher than the October 2021 Ofgem price cap. Therefore, ecotricity is more expensive than other companies, but with Ecotricity, customers also receive green electricity and partially green gas.
However, it may be worth it for some customers to pay more for their energy, knowing it will come from green energy sources.
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