Finnish consumers discover green energy

Helsinki Times
Thursday, 18 September 2008 13:13

As many as one in seven Finnish households have switched to green electricity suppliers certified under the Norppa ecolabel scheme, whose prices are becoming increasingly competitive.

“We launched the Norppa ecolabel scheme ten years ago, as soon as Finland’s energy markets were opened up,” says Kaarina Toivonen of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (FANC). “The idea is to give consumers a chance to influence how energy is produced, by opting to buy electricity from suppliers who generate electricity from renewable energy sources such as hydropower, bioenergy or wind power, instead of fossil fuels or nuclear reactors.”

Finnish households were at first slow to change suppliers, but interest is now rising rapidly due to growing concerns about climate change.

“It’s easy to change who you buy your electricity from, starting by filling in a form at www.norppaenergia.fi which automatically requests possible suppliers to send offers, enabling consumers to compare prices and energy sources before they might sign a new contract,” explains Toivonen.

The scheme so far involves 13 suppliers whose operations are audited to ensure they meet detailed criteria - and do not sell more green electricity than they generate. An even wider array of suppliers’ prices can be compared on the Energy Market Authority’s price website (http://www.sahkonhinta.fi/).

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