Why should fossil fuel prices effect green energy?

By Mik Barton on Feb 29, 08 05:03 PM in PR

No atom was split, no coal burned and no oil drilled to aid the production of this blog (at least at my end anyway).

My PR company is doing its best to minimise impact on the environment. We don't leave the computer on standby overnight and all electricity comes from renewable sources like wind power, solar power and small-scale hydro.

The main reason for switching supplier is because I have two small children.

Although I have long since abandoned my dream of, when they are teenagers, skiing with them on the European glaciers - I would like to leave them some sort of habitable planet to grow up on.

I also happen to think being environment friendly makes good business sense. Cutting back on energy consumption must save money, surely, and other green-minded organisations are more likely to use my services.

Then when the news was full of energy price hikes by the main suppliers I also allowed myself a quiet chuckle. Trouble in Iraq or Iran may put the price of crude up, Russia may be turning the screws on the natural gas pipeline, but I'd be alright. The wind and the rain are free, aren't they?

Err. No. Not according to the letter I've received from Good Energy.

Our electricity prices are going up by 13.8 percent. Apparently part of the reason is the insecurity in the market because "several nuclear power stations were powered down at short notice and have been offline for a sustained period of time". What?

It gets odder: "Renewable electricity... is traded on the same market as traditional electricity. This means its costs fluctuate in line with fossil fuel costs."

Oh how naive I was.

Still, the company reassures me, I can feel REALLY good about how I'm doing my bit for the environment and if I persuade lots of people to use renewable energy the electricity market will be more stable and all our prices may come down.

So never mind saving the glaciers you coal-burning, gas-guzzling lot out there, switch to green power to save money for the eco-warriors like me.