Steve Brine teams up with Winchester MP to launch ecotricity.
The UK’s leading renewable energy company Ecotricity is launching a unique initiative to help Winchester residents and businesses improve their environmental performance.
Voted the best place to live in the UK two years ago by TV Location Location Location, Winchester was knocked off the coveted top spot last autumn when it emerged that we have one of the worst carbon footprints in Great Britain.
Ecotricity, the only independent electricity company in Britain, produces clean power from wind turbines says it hopes its initiative can turn some of the city’s red faces green.
Current Winchester MP Mark Oaten and Prospective Conservative MP Steve Brine, today (14th May 2008) joined forces to help Ecotricity launch themselves into the Winchester area.
Ecotricity are giving Winchester residents a chance to sign up with Ecotricity for the same price as they currently pay on their local supplier’s standard tariff. And they’ve pledged to give every household an Ecotricity Energy Saving Pack (worth £40) which could cut electricity bills by up to £74 a year.
An offer is open to the Winchester business community too. If companies sign up during the launch period, they’ll receive a special discounted rate. They’ll also receive a business pack with a certificate, web logos and stickers to demonstrate their environmental credentials to both existing and potential new customers.
Mark Oaten and Steve Brine are both taking the opportunity to go green and are switching their Winchester offices to Ecotricity.
Steve Brine says; "I have always maintained that going green needs to make as much financial as environmental sense, in other words that we need to make it a no-brainer for consumers. As the cost of living, and in particular utility bills, rise steeply for Winchester families I would think Ecotricity have chosen an extremely smart time to come to the market. I wish them every success."
“Winchester’s taken a bit of a battering for its carbon emissions record,” adds Mark Oaten. "But this is a great chance for our city’s residents and businesses to show they do care and that they are willing to do something about environmental damage.”
The inspiration behind Ecotricity is its founder and environmentalist Dale Vince. He says people don’t realise how easy it is to change their power provider.
“Wherever you are in the country you can actually choose to have your home or business supplied by clean energy. The funny thing is that switching only takes about five minutes but it is the biggest single step you can take to reduce your emissions and protect the environment.”
He added: “Winchester is a good place to launch an initiative like this with its carbon footprint record. We hope residents and businesses take up this challenge and help the environment in an easy way.”
All profits go back into wind turbines – last year the company invested £15.6 million (www.whichgreen.org). Last year Ecotricity invested £555 per customer on building new sources of renewable energy (www.whichgreen.org)
For more information phone 0845 2306 102 or email: [email protected]
