How ethical is Good Energy
Good Energy has long been an Ethical Consumer Best Buy, but in late January 2025 it announced a near-£100 million takeover by the Dubai-headquartered Esyasoft.
Who owns Good Energy?
Esyasoft is owned by the somewhat vaguely-named International Holding Company (IHC), which is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Tahnoun is part of the Gulf State’s ruling family – he is the brother of UAE’s current president and the son of the country’s founder. This company sits at the centre of the United Arab Emirates’ opaque corporate sector, where the lines between private and state-owned enterprise feel decidedly blurred.
IHC scores very poorly in our ratings, which has dragged Good Energy down from its original position near the top of the table. Good Energy is therefore no longer a Best Buy.
IHC owns companies involved in oil and gas drilling and distribution; meat, dairy and fisheries; alongside pharmaceutical studies, and “development and innovation in chemical solutions”. Yet we could find no adequate policies discussing fossil fuel expansion, animal welfare safeguards, or policies governing the use of animal testing. Moreover, mapping IHC’s list of subsidiaries produces a long list of global tax havens including the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands. In addition, its mining arm has been associated with gold smuggling in the DRC, according to a UN report.
It’s important to note that Good Energy’s internal policies and practice have not changed.
Commenting on the takeover, Good Energy founder and former CEO Juliet Davenport stated:
“I founded Good Energy 25 years ago to be a pioneer in the provision of clean power to all customers in the UK. The energy industry back then was very different, founded around fossil fuels and designed to be a centralised system. This new investor for Good Energy offers an opportunity to scale the Good Energy propositions leading the decentralised and flexible clean power offering for the prosumers of the future to make a real difference to climate change."