Bonn, February 2, 2016: In a recent market check, the Lower Saxony Consumer Center examined twelve green electricity labels. Only the Green Electricity label receives the top rating of highly recommendable. The most important evaluation criterion was whether a green electricity label guarantees ecological added value. The results are now available on the website of the Lower Saxony consumer advice center.

"The vast majority of consumers want to contribute to environmental and climate protection by purchasing green electricity. It is therefore logical that the Lower Saxony Consumer Center declares the additional ecological benefit to be at the heart of a label," says Rosa Hemmers, Chairwoman of Grüner Strom Label e.V.

Through the Green Electricity Certification, energy providers are obliged to promote new plants and innovative energy projects. In doing so, environmental requirements must be observed that often go beyond the legal requirements. The label criteria represent the consensus of all seven supporting associations - BUND, Deutscher Naturschutzring, EUROSOLAR, IPPNW, NABU, NatWiss and VERBRAUCHER INITIATIVE - on the compatibility of nature conservation and energy transition. Since 1998, the Green Electricity Label has supported more than 1,000 projects with over 40 million euros.

The green power market survey by the Lower Saxony Consumer Center took place as part of the Marktwächter Energie project. In addition to the green power labels themselves, the consumer advocates analyzed which seals the basic suppliers in Lower Saxony work with. Four basic suppliers market their green electricity with the highly recommendable Green Electricity label: BS Energy Braunschweiger Versorgungs AG & Co. KG, GWS Stadtwerke Hameln GmbH, Stadtwerke Hannover AG and Stadtwerke Springe GmbH.

In addition to these local tariffs, consumers in Lower Saxony can choose from around a dozen other green electricity products with the Green Electricity label that are offered by national energy suppliers and were therefore not part of the market check. Consumers can find out which products are available at their place of residence via a zip code product search at http://www.gruenerstromlabel.de/gruener-strom/oekostrom-beziehen/.

About Grüner Strom Label e.V.
The Grüner Strom Label e.V. certifies green energy products. The association awards two seals of approval for this purpose: the Green Electricity Label for green electricity with added value and the Green Gas Label for environmentally compatible biogas. The association is backed by seven non-profit environmental and consumer associations and peace organizations. The Green Electricity and Green Gas labels are the only quality seals for green electricity and biogas in Germany that are supported by leading environmental associations.