March 19, 2025
In a development that has left some long-time customers concerned, UK renewable energy provider Good Energy has been acquired by Esyasoft, a company based in Dubai with ties to the Abu Dhabi ruling family. The acquisition, finalized on March 13th when shareholders voted by a “substantial majority” to accept the offer, raises important questions about the future of ethical energy supply in the UK.
According to available information, Esyasoft has purchased the entire share issue of Good Energy. While the current expectation is that Good Energy will “continue to operate unchanged, at least at present,” some customers are expressing concern about what this might mean for the company’s ethical stance and renewable energy commitments in the longer term.
Ironically this information was not stated in a letter Good Energy had written recently to customers about their commitment to transparency in green energy. The letter the company had recently launched a “Good Green Supply” transparency standard with three key metrics:
- True Green – 100% of power sourced directly from renewable generators
- New Green – 40% of electricity from renewable generators new to the grid
- Time-matched Green – 90% of power produced by renewable generators in the same hour that customers use it
This initiative was specifically designed to combat “rampant greenwashing” in the industry, where some suppliers use ‘REGOs’ to label fossil fuel power as renewable, because the electricity your house is running on may not actually be green in origin, only the overall mix.
The news has prompted strong reactions from long-time customers at our Green Christian ce-link discussion group, some of whom have supported Good Energy for decades based on their ethical stance:
“Why do these ethical companies end up selling out? I have been a customer for 25 years – grrr!” wrote one frustrated customer.
Another reflected on the company’s origins: “I recall seeing Juliet Davenport give a talk at a Resurgence conference a long time ago on her background, why she founded Good Energy and her experience leading the company. It all felt like a kind of small community with supplier and customers sharing the same vision and somehow working together.”
Does the situation raises fundamental questions about sustainable business models in ethical industries and highlight the ongoing tension between ethical business practices and commercial pressures in the renewable energy sector? In an increasingly complex and expensive business, small may become unaffordable, leading to buy-outs of this nature and while consolidation may bring efficiency and potentially more investment, it could well risk diluting the original mission and values that attracted customers in the first place. This is a shame, especially when some of us have persuaded our churches to switch to Good Energy as an ethical provider!
For now, Good Energy customers are left watching and waiting to see whether the company’s commitment to genuine renewable energy will remain intact under its new ownership.
George Dow and Deborah Tomkins (Green Christian Trustees)
Sources and Further Reading:
www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/27/good-energy-takeover-uae-esyasoft
www.which.co.uk/reviews/energy-companies/article/energy-company-reviews/good-energy-aimFJ0H8iW6w,
Joy in Enough 