Green electricity advice: origin evidence and additional criteria

A customer asks your energy sales team about green electricity. They may want understandable renewable origin, or specifically want to support additional environmental criteria. Distinguishing those wishes helps you explain your actual offer convincingly. The key question is which evidence answers their personal choice and which extra claim would need proof. This creates a concrete product decision rather than a comparison of green terminology.

Turn the environmental wish into a testable question

Ask what matters about the new electricity product. Does the customer want to understand generation type, prefer a particular country of origin or seek additional verifiable criteria? These answers can overlap but mean different things. Let customers name their priority. You can select relevant information instead of answering an unclear wish with a random environmental phrase.

One wish might be: “I want to know whether my product allocates electricity from renewable sources.” Another customer asks whether the tariff meets particular additional requirements. Different evidence answers each question. You need not artificially compress the priority into one term. Customers should find the answer to their actual question in the offer, rather than just a familiar colour.

Establish which attribute is essential and which would be an interesting extra. If customers require a specific origin, a general renewable product is insufficient on its own. If your range does not substantiate that attribute, explain this and show an actually available alternative. Their priority remains the measure of selection without adding an unsuitable promise.

Explain the role of guarantees of origin

The Umweltbundesamt describes guarantees of origin as electronic documents recording renewable generation. They include energy source, generating installation, location and generation period. When used for sold green electricity, they are cancelled in the register. This prevents the same renewable attribute being marketed repeatedly. Explain what the evidence does behind the product choice and why it is more than an arbitrary advertising phrase.

However, the UBA explains that this evidence does not assess the environmental quality of the whole product. State this boundary alongside its benefit. Additional environmental requirements need further suitable evidence. Present the guarantee neither as an all-encompassing environmental label nor as meaningless. It answers the origin question; a wider product assessment needs its own substantiated criteria.

Separate what is established about generation from what is additionally promised about the product. Keep each statement with its reference. A renewable source does not automatically create every desired extra effect. Customers may nevertheless consciously choose origin evidence as sufficient. Your task is to support that decision with an understandable answer, rather than prescribe another priority.

Assign disclosure to the right product

Electricity disclosure makes the mix visible. The UBA distinguishes the selected product, the supplier’s overall mix and the comparison with Germany. Read the labels first. A diagram about the whole supplier does not alone answer a question about one tariff. This matters especially when several similar-looking graphics appear together.

Ask which document the customer is viewing. A current offer page and an earlier annual bill may refer to different periods. Identify product name and period together. If information is missing, ask the supplier for the relevant disclosure. Build a verifiable answer instead of combining favourable individual details from different presentations into one supposed offer.

When comparing two products, ask the same questions for both: which statement belongs to the product, which period applies and what remains open? A mixed supplier portfolio does not itself disprove a product attribute. Equally, a generally green corporate appearance does not replace product evidence. Customers should be able to buy the product whose attributes you have actually explained.

Distinguish origin from physical delivery

According to the Umweltbundesamt, guarantees of origin can generally be traded separately from electricity. An origin statement therefore does not promise that electricity from a named plant physically reaches a particular socket. This explains the evidence without discouraging the customer’s environmental wish. It connects origin with the right expectation and avoids using physical imagery as a product promise.

If customers mention a country or plant, establish the offer’s actual scope. Does the supplier identify the origin country of the certificates used, or a narrower allocation? Does the statement concern the product or merely general procurement? Follow the documents’ exact meaning. An appealing power-plant photo does not answer these questions, even if it helps start the conversation.

Ask how precise the origin wish is. “From Europe”, “from Germany” and “from a named installation” are different requirements. Explain only the attribute substantiated for that option. If customers expect greater precision, clarify that point. They can choose between real offers without a general origin statement becoming a promise of particular local delivery.

Read additional labels for their actual content

The UBA mentions additional green electricity labels as a way to assess environmental product attributes. Begin with the published criteria of the label actually used. Which product is assessed, what requirements are named and which version applies? A similar-looking mark on another offer is not evidence. Explain the real statement rather than invent a broad assessment from its name.

Also check whether the actual product currently carries that certification. A logo on an older document does not establish the current offer version. Ask for confirmation where the reference is unclear. If you have not read the criteria in full, limit your claim to substantiated information. Other suppliers using similar language does not make an extra promise reliable.

For comparison, ask whether a criterion actually matches the customer’s wish. One requirement may matter more than another. Explain differences in plain language and show the relevant original passage. Customers do not need a universal winner among green products. They need a visible connection between their priority and the attribute they want to choose.

Make broad environmental claims concrete

If an offer advertises additional effects, ask exactly what it means. Which action or attribute is promised, what does it refer to and which evidence supports it? This helps with claims about supporting new installations and other environmental arguments. Do not adopt an effect from a headline alone. An understandable explanation names the substantiated service and leaves unsupported matters open.

Avoid your own avoided-emissions calculations without a suitable reliable basis. Origin evidence alone does not supply a freely transferable personal savings figure. If the supplier uses a number, examine its method and reference before repeating it. Customers can make a conscious choice without invented environmental metrics when the actual attributes and differences are adequately explained.

Use the same care in your offer wording. State the concrete proven attribute rather than a broader promise. Origin does not confirm every environmental impact. If customers need further proof for a special purpose, clarify the appropriate assessment. A tariff conversation does not establish, for example, whether a product statement is sufficient for particular corporate reporting.

Distinguish two fictional selection wishes

In two explicitly invented conversations, each person is interested in green electricity. The first mainly wants to understand the renewable origin of their chosen product. The adviser explains the evidence and identifies the right disclosure. Extra attributes are not assumed. The person can decide whether the confirmed attribute is sufficient or another requirement needs investigation.

The second specifically wants an additional criterion met. The adviser uses the same origin explanation as a foundation but does not treat it as the whole answer. She checks the actual product criteria and current reference. If the requested attribute lacks confirmation, that point stays open. The next choice is to obtain evidence or consider another available option.

Both conversations can lead to different suitable offers despite the same opening word. The difference lies in the customer wish and required proof. These cases describe neither real customers nor sales successes. They show how broad environmental interest becomes two specific selection questions. Another priority can be added later, but should not silently replace the original wish.

If customers name several conditions together, check that the same product meets them jointly. Proven origin in one option and an extra criterion in another do not create an available combination. Show which option confirms both and which provides only part. If none meets everything, customers can deliberately weight priorities or request further investigation. Base this on visible differences rather than an accidentally assembled ideal product that your range does not actually offer.

Combine environmental attributes with the tariff decision

Once the attribute is clarified, return to the remaining actual tariff conditions. Origin evidence does not answer price, duration or desired service. Bring these together for the same real product. Otherwise customers could mentally combine one option’s environmental attribute with another’s conditions. Personal comparison needs a complete available combination on which they can actually decide.

Keep unresolved evidence questions narrow. A short note with product name, document version, desired attribute and responsible follow-up often suffices. Extensive private consumption profiles are unnecessary for this purpose. If documents must be linked to a person, use the intended protected channel. The key information need here is product evidence. Collect only customer data needed for the agreed advice and next appropriate step.

If the product version changes later, review the explained attributes specifically. A new name, changed origin reference or different criteria can alter the earlier selection. Explain the new point and affected priority. Customers can then choose a green tariff with understood evidence and connect additional wishes to concrete verifiable attributes.

New electricity tariff conversations

webRichtung provides electricity tariff enquiries with consumption band, usage, reason and contact details. You clarify any special green electricity wish and product evidence personally. Register your business on the electricity tariff page and check the current enquiry price in webRichtung Customer before a binding order.

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Source

Umweltbundesamt: Green electricity background — disclosure and guarantees of origin, read in full on 18 October 2026; page updated 4 May 2026. Particular label, environmental impact and reporting claims need their own current product evidence; no specific label is approved here.