# PositioningPositioningThe mental space you want your brand to occupy in your target customer's mind relative to alternatives.View full definition → green tariffs without triggering greenwashing backlash
A customer signs up for a "100% renewable electricity" tariff. That night, the wind stops blowing and demand peaks. A gas plant fires up to keep the lights on. The electrons flowing into that customer's home are, physically, partly from fossil fuels.
So what did they actually buy?
They bought a certificate. Understanding that gap, between what the marketing implies and what the accounting delivers, is the entire game in energy sustainability marketing. Get it wrong and you face regulatory action, activist campaigns, and churn. Get it right and green tariffs become a durable margin and loyalty driver.
Electricity grids are pooled. Once power enters the wires, you cannot trace a specific electron to a specific source. So the industry uses a tracking system.
REGO (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin): the UK certificate. One REGO is issued per megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable generation. In the US and Canada the equivalent is a
A supplier "matches" your consumption by retiring one certificate per MWh you use. That is what most "100% renewable" tariffs mean: certificate matching, not physical delivery.
Here is the credibility problem. A supplier can buy cheap, unbundled certificates, meaning certificates sold separately from the actual electricity, on the open market. In the UK, REGOs have often traded for very low amounts per MWh (estimates in recent years put them well under a pound in some periods, though prices vary). A supplier buying only unbundled REGOs is not funding any new wind farm. It is buying a paper claim.
Regulators noticed. The UK's Ofgem has consulted on reforming REGOs precisely because they let suppliers make strong green claims with weak underlying substance. You can follow the direction of travel via Ofgem's REGO reform work.
Take a generic "100% Green" tariff page. It says:
> "All the electricity we supply is backed by 100% renewable sources."
Word by word:
The activist and regulator question is simple: would this generation have happened anyway? This is the concept of additionality, whether your purchase caused new renewable capacity to exist. Unbundled certificate buying usually fails the additionality test. A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), a long-term contract to buy output directly from a specific generator, usually passes it.
That distinction is your entire marketing risk mapmapUsing software to automate repetitive marketing tasks and campaigns, enabling personalisation at scale across channels like email, web, and social.View full definition →.
Different buyers care about different depths of proof. Match the claim to the segment.
They chose the green tariff because it was cheapest or default. They will not read your methodology. Do not overclaim to this group; you gain nothing and expose yourself to blanket regulatory action. Keep claims factual and plain: "matched with renewable certificates."
These customers actively want impact. They are also the ones who screenshot your ad and tag a campaigner. For them, vague "100% green" language is dangerous because they will investigate. Give them the mechanics: how much comes from PPAs versus unbundled certificates, and which specific projects.
Businesses buying green power for their own Scope 2 emissions (indirect emissions from purchased electricity) need audit-grade evidence. They report under frameworks like the GHG Protocol. Loose claims are useless to them; they need certificate serial numbers, contract structures, and time-stamped data. This segment rewards rigor and punishes fluff.
The mistake most suppliers make: writing one green claim for all three segmentssegmentsDividing a market into distinct groups of customers who share similar needs, characteristics or behaviours, so each group can be served with a tailored approach.View full definition →. The values-driven segment then holds you to the corporate standard while the price-first segment ignores it entirely. You get the worst of both.
In most markets, advertising claims must be substantiated and not mislead. In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority published the Green Claims Code, which requires claims to be truthful, clear, and backed by evidence, and to consider the full life cycle. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission's "Green Guides" play a similar role and have been under review.
The recurring enforcement themes:
1. Absolute claims need absolute proof. "100% renewable" invites "prove every kilowatt."
2. Omission is deception. Not mentioning that you rely on unbundled certificates can itself mislead.
3. Imagery counts. Wind turbines and green leaves on a tariff backed only by cheap certificates can be treated as a claim.
Match your language to your actual procurement. Climb only as high as you can prove.
Rung 1 (weakest): certificate-matched. Say exactly that. "We match your usage with renewable certificates (REGOs)." Honest, unglamorous, low risk.
Rung 2: partially contracted. "A portion of our supply comes from direct contracts (PPAs) with named wind and solar farms; the remainder is certificate-matched." Disclose the split.
Rung 3 (strongest): additional and time-matched. "We buy directly from new renewable projects and are working toward matching your consumption hour by hour." Hourly matching, aligning your green purchase to when you actually consume, is the emerging gold standard because it closes the "wind stopped at night" gap. Google has publicly pursued 24/7 carbon-free energy on this logic.
Never market a rung above where you sit.
🎬 [VIDEO: "What are Renewable Energy Certificates?" — youtube.com — a short plain-language explainer of how REC/REGO tracking and retirement works]
Knowledge check
1. When a customer on a '100% renewable' tariff uses electricity during a period when wind generation has stopped and gas plants are running, what have they actually purchased?
2. Why does buying unbundled certificates create a credibility problem for a supplier's green claims?
3. The lesson describes the 'entire game' of energy sustainability marketing as managing a particular gap. What is that gap?
4. Select ALL correct answers about renewable energy certificate systems and their role in green tariffs.
Select all the correct answers.
5. Select ALL correct answers about why regulators such as Ofgem have scrutinised certificate-based green claims.
Select all the correct answers.
Replace vague claims with specific ones. Specificity is both more persuasive and more defensible.
| Avoid | Use instead |
|---|---|
| "100% green electricity" | "Matched 100% with UK renewable certificates (REGOs)" |
| "Powering a cleaner future" | "12% of our supply is contracted directly from named solar farms in 2026" |
| "Zero carbon energy" | "Certificate-matched to renewable generation; see our methodology" |
Two practical moves that de-risk campaigns:
Publish a methodology page. Link every green claim to a page stating your certificate sources, PPA share, and how you calculate matching. This satisfies the values-driven and corporate segmentssegmentsDividing a market into distinct groups of customers who share similar needs, characteristics or behaviours, so each group can be served with a tailored approach.View full definition → and gives regulators a good-faith trail.
Show the fuel mix. Most markets require an annual fuel mix disclosure. Feature yours prominently rather than burying it. Transparency about your actual generation blend is the single strongest defense against greenwashing accusations, because you are pre-empting the investigation.
Activists do not typically attack honest, modest claims. They attack the gap between glossy imagery and thin substance. The reputational damage comes from being caught, not from being unglamorous.
So the counterintuitive marketing lesson: underclaiming relative to your evidence is a competitive advantage. A supplier that says "we only match with certificates, and here is our plan to add real PPAs by 2027" earns more trust than one shouting "100% green" with no backing. In a low-trust category, the credible player wins the segmentssegmentsDividing a market into distinct groups of customers who share similar needs, characteristics or behaviours, so each group can be served with a tailored approach.View full definition → that actually pay premiums.