Switching to Renewable Energy — Easy as Pie!

I remember giving myself a pep talk before clicking the button.

“It isn’t a big deal, Eleni. You can always switch back if it goes haywire…Besides, what’s the worst than can happen?”

Fear not friends, I wasn’t investing money in a new enterprise. I was actually making the decision to save money and switch away from EDF Energy to a renewable energy supplier, Bulb.

I have been thinking about switching to renewable energy for a year. A YEAR. 365 days. I kid you not.

A part of me is incredibly ashamed that it took me so long. I worked in the clean technology space for almost three year, and avidly support renewables. I have also been SO frustrated with my existing energy supplier, as I have been trying to communicate with them for over a year to change something in my account and have been unsuccessful.

I clearly had reasons to switch supplier, so why did it take me so long?

Honestly? Fear.

I was scared I was somehow going to mess it up and end up with no electricity and gas. I was scared I was going to commit myself to something that was worse than my existing situation. I was scared of going with a relatively new energy supplier, as opposed to one of the Big Six.

Then one day, I decided to follow my own advice and get serious about climate action (see article on how to get started on climate action).

The first, and truly the easiest, thing you can do as an individual is switch your energy supply to renewable energy.

I am pleasantly surprised to report that it is an easy and smooth process.

I decided to go with Bulb because I love what the company is doing. Bulb’s website is incredibly transparent and intuitive, and when I read about the company’s values and mission statement, I feel like it is a company I want to support. Bonus: Bulb’s tariffs were several hundred pounds cheaper than EDF’s. I also have a few friends on Bulb, so I felt some comfort knowing that I wasn’t a first mover.

That being said, there are many other renewable energy suppliers so do some googling and see what makes sense for you!

Here is how easy it is to switch. All it took was two actions from my side.

Action 1: I pressed the lovely green button on Bulb’s website, filled out some basic details and requested a switch.

Within five minutes, I received an email confirming my information and giving me a timeline for next steps.

Two weeks later, I got an update from Bulb, letting me know about the next steps and what would be required from me.

A few days after that, I received a request from Bulb to submit meter readings.

Action 2: I submitted my meter readings.

Fast forward to a week later and I got my first bill, and acceptance as a new Bulb customer.

Bulb handled talking to EDF Energy, paying my exit fees and sorting out my final bill.

And that’s about it, folks. Seriously, as easy as pie.

I am still waiting for the final bill from EDF, but in theory no action will be required from my side. I will be sure to update this article if anything changes, but I am 99 percent sure I am all set.

So no excuses. It takes almost no effort on your part, but it has an important impact on our environment and sends a market signal that consumers want more renewables.

If you do one thing today, switch to clean energy.

www.bigcleanswitch.org is a great resource if you want to compare different green tariffs and get a cost breakdown!

p.s. If you want to switch to Bulb, let me know and I can send you a referral fee and save you 50 pounds!