This week two of the leading energy suppliers, npower and EDF Energy, announced large increases in their energy bills. Insiders believe that British Gas will follow suit shortly.

Customers may find better deals via a green energy tariff. With household carbon dioxide emissions contributing one third of the UK's total emissions, obtaining electricity from renewable sources is vital. However, there has been a distinct lack of urgency in signing up to a green tariff: the National Consumer Council published a report last year indicating that less than 1 per cent of households had switched to green energy. Green tariffs come in three forms:

A green electricity supply tariff: the electricity sold to you is provided from renewable sources;

A green energy fund tariff: the premium paid by customers goes into renewable energy or other environmental projects;

A carbon offset tariff: suppliers offset the carbon dioxide emitted by the energy supply by planting trees or investing in other projects that reduce carbon dioxide.

Juliet Davenport, head of Good Energy, the only supplier in the UK that obtains 100 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources, blames inertia for consumers' reluctance to switch suppliers. Also, eco-energy come in various shades of green, she says: “Since the big suppliers got in on the act, accreditation has fallen away and it is left to the public to spend a lot of time researching how green suppliers actually are.”

There is some good news, however. Ofgem, the energy market regulator, has announced that it will be bringing in an A-F rating system for green energy tariffs. This could be introduced as soon as April. In the meantime, Davenport suggests going online: the broker greenelectricity.org sells only green power and lists where all electricity companies obtain their supply. Or try uswitch.com and greenenergyhelpline.com .

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