Uwe Hermann - Green energy from Lichtblick getting... cheaper! - Comments

Solar will be the norm

California Solar Company — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:21:49 +0100

Being in the solar business I must say it is very exciting when I see manufacturers and companies making solar energy more affordable and accessible. It means we are moving in the right direction and soon every major manufacturer will most likely follow the trend. Alternative energy will be the norm very soon I think

unfortunately Lichtblick type groups have one barrier

Find home insurance — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:19:00 +0200

as a commodity, such services will only be phased out on a grand scale when their price becomes one cent cheaper than fossil fuels--at least for most businesses. The individual however is more likely to convert to such services for reasons beyond monetary savings. I am glad to see they are selling a locked in rate, not unlike futures in some sense. This should help speed along their initial growth quite well.

Green energy from Lichtblick getting... cheaper!

Uwe Hermann — Sat, 17 May 2008 19:16:29 +0200

You might remember that I wrote a blog entry about my switch to the green electric utility "Lichblick" (Germany) a while ago. I did that purely out of environmental reasons, I didn't want to continue to waste money on polluting and/or dangerous crap such as fossil or nuclear power. Yes, even if that meant a slightly higher price (but I really didn't compare prices much before switching — I was after an environmentally clean solution, not the cheapest solution).

Quick status update: the switch went really nice and easy, no downtimes, no hassle. I've been a happy customer for more than 8 months now.

Today in my snail mail inbox: a letter from Lichtblick that they're going to reduce the price per kWh from 20.25 to 19.99 (Euro) cents starting July 1st and they give you a guarantee that there won't be any price raises before the end of 2009 (more details also here). Now, that's a positive surprise there.

Compare that to 98% of all other energy providers in Germany who have lately increased prices quite a lot for very obscure or non-existant reasons.

Yes, I do realize that the reduced costs are not that dramatic, and Lichtblick is using this as a means to impress people and gain new customers. But I fully support them in doing so, the more people are switching to a green energy provider the better, if you ask me. I encourage everyone to consider switching, either to Lichtblick, or some of their competitors (in Germany) e.g. Greenpeace energy, Elektrizitätswerke Schönau, or Naturstrom AG. There are various alternatives in other countries too, of course.