a white man in a suit gives a small smile as he sits in front of a wall with the good energy logo
Nigel Pocklington, CEO of Good Energy (pictured), says that the service will provide fairness to FIT microgenerators. Image: Good Energy.

Renewable energy supplier Good Energy has revealed a new service for feed-in tariff (FIT) electricity generators to register them for the Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) scheme.

The REGO scheme was developed in order to give consumers clear information on the proportion of power that suppliers source from renewables while also allowing businesses to demonstrate their green energy procurement when reporting their emissions.

However, FIT microgenerators – usual owners of small solar setups – have been historically kept out from the scheme due to the complex and time-consuming process of applying as a FIT. As such, Good Energy has now collaborated with the UK energy regulator Ofgem to design its new FIT REGO Boost service, which streamlines the registration process for FIT generators.

The scheme is open to participants of Good Energy’s FIT scheme, which closed to new entrants in 2019 and currently comprises of over 180,000 customers.

Nigel Pocklington, CEO of Good Energy, said: “Microgeneration has been historically undervalued in our energy system. Not only has the power small-scale solar generators share back to the grid been underestimated, but schemes that are available to bigger generators, like REGOs, have not been available to them.

“On an individual level, this service will help our FIT microgenerators be rewarded fairly and be recognised for the contribution they are making to the production of renewable energy. And on a macro-level, it will help to better assess the contribution of microgenerators, make solar generation as attractive as possible and drive more people to produce their own clean energy.”

Good Energy notes that it has been a “longstanding critic” of the manner in which some energy suppliers misuse the REGO system in order to “mislead consumers” by using REGO certificates to greenwash fossil fuel power purchased via the wholesale market. The company has been at the forefront of efforts to improve the REGO system; in 2023, it launched hourly energy matching for its business customers, and last month it was a signatory on an open letter to energy secretary Ed Miliband, demanding the government works to speed up reforms to the REGO scheme.

Kit Dixon, head of policy at Good Energy, added: “While the REGO system is imperfect, it is how generators are certified to be producing renewable electricity, and as such, small-scale FIT generators have every right to access it.

“Change is needed to bring greater transparency and innovation to the market, ensuring that consumers know that their supplier is genuinely working to decarbonise electricity use. A small part of this is ensuring that all renewable generators can access the support to which they are entitled, no matter their size. This is what our FIT REGO Boost service helps deliver.”