The Big Church Switch – Frequently Asked Questions Why should we switch our homes or churches to 100% renewable electricity? Tearfund’s vision is a world where everyone can live life in all its fullness, and where nobody is hungry, thirsty or gets left behind. This sounds ambitious, but we believe it’s possible. One way we can do this is to take small positive steps in our homes, churches and communities ­ and like mustard seeds, these actions will multiply for real impact. Switching to 100% renewable electricity is one of the biggest things you and your church can do to reduce your carbon footprint. ​
As Christians we are called to live in a way that brings about God’s kingdom ­ giving life, hope and restoration to our earth and its people. When we together use our time and money to care for creation, we join in with God’s work of renewing the earth, and stand alongside the world’s poorest people who are most affected by climate change.​
You will also be actively investing in the future ­ helping to show government and businesses that there is a demand for clean, renewable energy that can help all God’s people to flourish. When we act together, we speak powerfully to those around us and in positions of influence. ​
As more individuals and churches join the Big Church Switch, together we will put greater pressure on governments and businesses to follow suit investing in renewables. Over time, this will help to lower carbon emissions and limit climate change, whilst also improving renewable technology and infrastructure so that all communities across the world can access energy that is safe, clean and reliable. Churches of all shapes, sizes and denominations are joining in and we’re excited about the potential we have as the body of Christ to make a difference. How does switching help people in poverty? As Christians, we’re called to put our faith into action by loving our neighbours and caring for the earth, our common home. Pollution from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas hugely contribute to climate change, which is affecting the poorest communities that Tearfund serves. More frequent floods, droughts and extreme weather means that the poorest people are increasingly at risk of losing their​
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crops, livelihoods and homes. This is why Tearfund believes tackling climate change will help us tackle poverty, and by our own actions we can send powerful signals to governments and businesses to make greater strides. Changing our energy supplier to one which restores creation, rather than damages it, is one powerful way to invest in a brighter future for all God's people, and help our sisters and brothers around the world flourish. Here's how it works: ● Everyone's energy comes from the National Grid ­ which is a mix of polluting energy from fossil fuels and clean energy. A green energy supplier will match the energy you use with clean energy it puts back onto the grid. In the process, we start to clean up the fuel mix on the grid and lower the UK's carbon intensity. ● Energy suppliers either generate renewable energy themselves or buy it from renewable sources. By buying this energy, you are encouraging more renewable generation, increasing investment in clean energy. ● The energy companies that Tearfund recommend as part of the Big Church Switch are all ones which will give you a 100% renewable electricity tariff, and who source the majority of their total energy supply (over 80%) from renewables. The more people that switch to these type of companies, the higher the demand, meaning that over time more clean energy will be generated. This will help to lower carbon emissions and limit climate change, whilst also improving renewable technology so that all communities across the world can access clean and reliable energy. How easy is it to switch my energy​
? Pretty easy! If you wish ​
to switch to clean energy you are of course free to choose any company that you prefer. However, in order to help supporters access competitive tariffs and to ensure it’s a smooth a process as possible, Tearfund is working with energy buying groups The Big Deal (for domestic switches) and 2buy2 (for church switches)​
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There is a lot of help and support available. If you’re switching your home, the deal is available now and you can switch right away! Click the link ‘Switch my home energy’ at tearfund.org/switch to reach our page with experts The Big Deal. Enter some basic details such as your postcode and some info about your energy usage, and you'll be given a personalised quote for your clean energy tariff, plus your projected saving. You can compare this to other tariffs at the same time. If you go for it then all you need to do is add your direct debit details into the site and you're all set. Once you’ve done this, your new energy company will contact your existing company and request to transfer your account. Assuming there are no problems, this should take about two to four weeks. If you’re a church, once you’ve registered your interest then our expert partners will guide you through it step by step! There is no obligation to switch at any time and they will make it as easy as possible. First register your interest by clicking ‘Switch my church energy’ at tearfund.org/switch and you’ll be directed to our Big Church Switch site, run in association with church energy experts 2buy2. Enter some basic details to register your interest, and 2buy2 will be in touch with more information and to give you a quote. There’s a 3 minute video you can watch too that will explain the different steps involved. Is it expensive? For most people it should be competitive with your current bill; and if enough of us switch together, it’s likely to be even cheaper. ​
You are of course free to choose any renewable energy provider you want, but we are running a number of group buying deals during the year for both homes and churches so that together, Tearfund supporters have the best possible chance of accessing a great 100% renewable electricity deal. We believe that the deal for home energy that Tearfund is running with the Big Deal is one of the cheapest 100% renewable electricity deals on the open market at the time of going to print, but you can also compare it with other tariffs online when you register on the Big Deal site. The deal opens on Monday 7 March and closes at Midnight on Sunday 27 March​
. The deal is with a company called Bulb Energy. All the details about the deal, which is also available for Christian Aid and The Climate Coalition members, are available on ​
the Big Deal site​
. For churches, the tariff depends on how many churches are interested, so please do register your interest in our first deal by 24 March 2016. Once we know the numbers of churches registered, energy buying group 2buy2 will receive tariff rates from interest energy companies. 2buy2 will select the tariff and company that best meets our criteria on price, sustainability and customer service. At that point they will be able to advise churches on how competitive the tariff is for renewable electricity and churches can choose whether to proceed. There is no obligation to switch at any point – you choose whether you want to take up the deal. Is there something I can do if can’t switch at the moment?​
If you’re not in a position to change your household supplier, or you’ve already done so (thank you!), please ask your church to make the switch. If you live in Northern Ireland, the tariffs on offer sadly are not likely to lead to more investment in clean, renewable energy, so we're asking companies to change that. You can ​
sign our Renewable Northern Ireland petition​
to say that this is the kind of electricity you want and that you don't want to be left behind. Who is involved with the Big Church Switch? Led by Tearfund and Christian Aid, the Big Church Switch is an initiative to create a movement of Christians switching their homes and church buildings to 100% renewable electricity. We are responding to the concern of the Christian community about climate change, which affects all of us and particularly the poorest. ​
The campaign aims to build pressure on politicians and companies to go further in their own renewable energy policies as a way of helping to combat climate change, by showing the kind of steps the church community is willing to take. Christian Aid and Tearfund are partnering with a range of other organisations and denominations on the Big Church Switch to get this message out far and wide. We are also working with buying groups The Big Deal (for domestic switches) and 2buy2 (for church switches) to help supporters access competitive tariffs. Christian Aid and Tearfund do not benefit financially from homes or churches switching to clean electricity through the Big Church Switch initiative. The Big Deal and 2buy2 will take commission for each home or church that switches to cover the cost of facilitating each deal and supporting customers through the process. What has switching energy supplier got to do with my Christian faith? Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going­to­work, and walking­around life­ and place it before God as an offering. Romans 12: 1­2 (Message) As Christians, we’re called to put our faith into action by loving our neighbours and caring for the earth, our common home. Continued extraction and use of fossil fuels is unsustainable, it threatens poor communities and disrupts the balance of God’s creation, but there is an alternative. By changing our energy supplier to one which is not damaging creation, but rather one that will bring lasting light to all God's people, and help our sisters and brothers around the world flourish. Is it working?​
Yes! The UK is cleaning up our act, with 19% of our electricity being renewable in 2014. Over 100,000 people have made the switch in the last two years – but there’s still a lot more people who can make a difference in this way! What is ‘clean’ or renewable energy? Renewable electricity is generated using energy from the sun, wind and waves. Unlike fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, renewable energy sources will not run out. They are often described as ‘clean’ energy as a contrast to fossil fuels which release polluting carbon when they are burned to make electricity. Coal is the most polluting fuel we use to generate electricity. Next most polluting is oil, and then gas which has half the carbon footprint of coal, but still 35 times as much as renewable electricity. 30% of our electricity is generated from coal, 30% from gas, and 19% from renewables at the moment. Increasing levels of carbon emissions in the atmosphere have caused our earth to warm, leading to climate change. Different suppliers generate renewables from different sources, so once we have selected a supplier we will be able to give you details of exactly where the energy is sourced for your particular tariff. What are the other benefits of switching to renewable energy? Extracting and burning fossil fuels for energy is becoming more expensive and difficult, and relying on this makes us all vulnerable and insecure. Clean energy sources offer a reliable and secure energy supply and provide long­term jobs, fuelling prosperity for our neighbours near and far. And following the historic UN climate deal in Paris in December, the shift towards renewable energy has well and truly begun. Now we need to keep up the pressure on politicians and companies to go further. We’re a church – if we register our interest on your website are we tied in to switching? No. We’re working with church energy experts 2buy2 who will negotiate the cheapest group 100% renewable deal we can find at the time of the deal that meets our criteria (see later question). You’ll register your interest with them and they will take you through the process, including giving you a quote and answering any queries you have. You are under no obligation to take up the deal, should you not wish to! If I decide to switch, what do I do with my current energy supplier? If you’re switching your home, 70% of the population are usually on a standard variable tariff, which means you are not tied in. If you are tied in, there may be exit fees payable to your old supplier if you leave. If you’re a church, you will need to terminate your contract at least one month in advance (some suppliers require up to three months). 2buy2 can supply you with a termination letter template to use and the 2buy2 customer service team will be available to answer any questions about the process. How do you decide on which renewable energy tariffs to recommend to supporters? Tearfund and our coalition partners at Big Church Switch have agreed criteria for the energy tariffs and energy suppliers that we are happy to point individuals and churches towards. The energy companies that we recommend are all ones which will give a 100% renewable electricity tariff, and who source the majority of their total energy supply (over 80%) from renewables. This ensures that an increase in demand from consumers will lead to increased renewable generation in the long term, rather than a ‘green tariff’ offered by a company that largely sources its energy from fossil fuels, which perpetuates the problem. A green tariff like this doesn’t require generating any extra clean energy from renewable sources. We also rate companies based on their levels of customer service and the amount of investment they make in renewable generation. There is a fair and competitive process in order to select the company that can offer the best deal to our supporters looking to switch their church or their home. Both of these buying groups put the energy companies that meet our criteria through a competitive process in order to select the best tariff. This means that every renewable energy company that offers a 100% tariff will have had the opportunity to be selected as the company that we will offer the current deal through. Your previous deal was with Green Star, now it’s Bulb ­ I’m confused, why are you promoting different companies? We value the work of all renewable energy companies who are working to tackle climate change and building a fairer, more sustainable world through their business and investment. Our aim is not to promote one company over another but to stimulate demand for renewables which will benefit both all of us. As mentioned above, all companies that meet our criteria on sustainability, customer service and price are invited through a fair and competitive process to offer a group tariff to either homes or churches. Of course, energy prices fluctuate and companies vary in terms of the rates they can offer at any given time ­ that’s why these special deals are time­bound. On homes, the winning company for our first deal (10 Feb to 3 March) was Green Star; the winning company for the second deal (3 to 27 March) was Bulb energy ­ you can find out more about Bulb here​
. For churches, the competitive process hasn’t opened yet, but the winning company for our first group church tariff will be announced in April. The initial rate might be competitive, but how do I know it will stay that way? We encourage everyone to regularly check how competitive their energy deal is particularly when they are nearing the end date of their contract to ensure that the rate is still competitive. However if you have switched your home through a Big Deal offer, they have a system set up to re­engage with you when your deal is about to expire. You can switch at any point within 49 days of the end of your contract. For churches, 2buy2 will continue to give ongoing support and also contact you when your contract is coming up for renewal, to see if there are better offers out there. How much a difference does this make to our church’s carbon footprint? Switching your energy supply to 100% renewable is a great step to take to reduce your churches carbon footprint. The amount that it will reduce will be dependent on your current supplier and energy usage and the supplier you switch to. You can use the Carbon Calculator to see this and other ways you can reduce your footprint The Eco Church initiative run by A Rocha and supported by Tearfund is another great way of reducing your footprint further. ​
www.ecochurch.arocha.org.uk Does Tearfund receive a donation when I switch my energy? In order to ensure supporters can get better 100% renewable electricity rates, Tearfund is working in partnership with two energy buying groups (the Big Deal and 2buy2) who organise and negotiate a group tariff for homes and churches. The Big Deal and 2buy2 receive commission for each switch that is made. Tearfund does not receive commission from a church or home switching their energy in this way as part of the Big Church Switch. Tearfund also has a long standing partnership with Ecotricity, Britain’s first green electricity company. Ecotricity has a fair price policy, whereby every customer pays the same no matter when they joined or what type of meter they have. Ecotricity does not price match, but is guaranteed to be cheaper than the standard tariff of the Big Six energy companies. We are not currently promoting this as part of the Big Church Switch initiative, but for supporters who choose to switch their home this way, Tearfund receives a donation from Ecotricity of £35 for every dual fuel switch, and £10 on the second anniversary and subsequent years. These donations are used to fund our work wherever the need is greatest. My church is already with a clean / renewable energy supplier ­ what else can I do to help? That’s great! Please let us know on ​
[email protected]​
if your church has switched already – we love to hear these stories and encourage others. Please do consider writing to your local MP about why you have switched and ask them what they are doing about climate change. By showing politicians the way forward rather than just telling them, we have real strength in making a shift towards renewable energy. Tearfund also supports the Eco Church award scheme which your church can work towards too! ​
www.ecochurch.arocha.org.uk We switched to a renewable / clean energy supplier years ago, are you saying I should now choose a different provider? Not at all! If you’ve switched to a 100% renewable electricity provider already that’s great. However if you are considering switching to a different provider you are also very welcome to join the Big Church Switch and see if you can get a better rate. You aren’t making any commitment until you see the final deal so you have nothing to lose. How do I persuade my church to join in? We know every church works differently in terms of how these decisions are made. Ultimately you need to find the right people and convince them to make this happen. It might be your church leadership team, the church treasurer or someone influential in your church’s committee. It’s always helpful to find a few allies first rather than acting as a lone voice. Are there others in your congregation who have switched or might want to switch their energy, and would be keen for the church to do so too? We’re producing a 2 minute talk and a short powerpoint presentation that you can use to speak to your church leader or congregation about the switch and why it can be part of our worship and stewardship. These FAQs may help, and click on ‘Switch my church’ button at ​
www.tearfund.org/switch​
to watch a video of the process. You could dedicate a service to climate change or try and get an expert or person from an affected community to come and talk about climate change as a way of growing concern for the issue inside your church. Do let us know if any resources would be helpful – we’d love to help if we can. But it’s the UK government who are failing to support renewables, shouldn’t we target them instead? We can do both through this campaign! We agree that we need to keep up the pressure on UK government, and politicians across all parties, to push for a faster transition to a renewable future, and we believe this campaign is one powerful way of doing so. Following the historic UN climate deal in Paris in December, the shift towards renewable energy has well and truly begun! As voters and consumers we can show by our actions that there is a growing mandate for the UK Government to better support renewable energy generation in order to honour the commitments made in Paris. We’ll be asking each switcher to make these points to their MP and we’ll be talking to the Government about it as well. Given the power of businesses to drive change, we hope this campaign will go some way towards giving investors the confidence to put money into new clean energy infrastructure to which will help support and hasten the speed of this transition.