Ripple Energy Reviews 710

Delayed projects and now the back blocked people from commenting or asking questions on the public forum.

Sarah and co are very good and greenwashing but avoiding any questions their poor management or lies that have been told

As a long time advocate for sustainable living I really liked the idea of the energy coop and still believe that this is something we should all explore - but definitely not with Ripple.

Overall I have found Ripple to be woefully inadequate on virtually every front - apart from signing up and taking money. They were good at that bit.

I began to get a bad feeling quite early on when it seemed communication was slow, poor and little more than self congratulating pats on the back. I understand making people feel good .... but you also have to tell us the truth about what we have invested in - like delays when they happen and the need for additional funding.

Then goal posts seemed to always move, before being told that everything would be way more expensive due to mistakes, time slippages etc. and you begin to wonder if the management is competent. Have a look at the Derril Water project that is radically different now to when first presented (and after lots of investors had put money in!)

Something else that worried me was pre-selling opportunities to be on the waiting list to interested people for £25 when there was absolutely no information about what the next project was (much to the dismay of lots of people who wanted project 3 to be a windfarm but was instead a solar park). Why ask for this money up front when there is enough time for people sign up to these projects when the details are released .... unless you needed a cash injection?

Still I kept quiet and hoped for the best.

Then the Kirk Hill coop gets a strike off notice towards the end of 2024 from the Financial Conduct Authority due to not filing accounts for 2 years. Seriously worried at this point but Ripple seem to scrabble around and claim to have sorted it (we still have no independent proof of this).

Then we find out in February 2025 that Companies House is going to strike off the holding company (which owns all of the assets of the wind farm) due to not filing accounts. If the company is struck off these assets revert to the crown and it would seem we all lose everything.

During this latest fiasco we have not been communicated with properly and we are having to find the facts out for ourselves through other institutions. When we do get emails they are basically holding emails with no useful information (or information we found out ourselves several days earlier). In fact the latest email also appears to misrepresent the situation with with Companies House.

As an investor in Kirk Hill, I am dismayed to find out this morning that it looks like the same issues affect their first project but the authorities have potentially not issued strike off notices yet (last accounts for the GF coop is from 2022!) and they also received a strike off notice from companies house in 2023 for the ltd company that holds the GF assets - which they managed to sort out.

So it seems that they are endlessly repeating the same errors again and again and causing mayhem for those that invested.

Currently Ripple appear to have sacked their chief financial officer (who has also left or is leaving all of the individual projects), have had to get an independent accounting firm in to start sorting out some sort of mess (that may well have been years in the making and they are not telling us what this mess is) and it also looks like one of the large institutional investors understandably has stepped in to take a lot more control of the limited company that owns all the assets.

As for their score and feedback on here. I see lots of positive posts from people that have paid but not actually got to a finished project that is paying out. As I say, they are good at taking the money.

For the negative posts, I am shocked at the manner in which you choose to speak to some of your customers that are unhappy and raised 100% valid concerns and are factually correct.

I will be monitoring any responses to this review - so I hope you take the opportunity to explain why the issues above should be forgiven .... as I really want this project to work for everyone but I cannot see how that is going to be case with Ripple.

Their sales blurb is very slick and if you accept their premises lead to glowing opinions. The problems start when you are tied in to a project. There are unforeseen problems that could easily be foreseen. There seems to be very little parallel working so every minor delay has an impact along the entire project.
Once a project is functioning there are communication problems, both technical and interpersonal that cause misunderstandings and delays in getting things fixed or payments made to investors/members.
The finance/accounting department are not on top of the ever evolving situation to the extent that they miss mandatory deadlines. Not just miss by a day or two but a year or two.
As a result of all this Ripple have become a legal and administrative liability.

I love the idea of community owned generation but this is not the correct model.

The structure of Kirk Hill wind farm is ripple investors are members of and own the Kirk Hill coop. The Coop is the majority shareholder of Kirk Hill wind farm ltd which actually owns the wind turbines. Now the insestuous bit. Ripple directors are also directors of the coop and the limited company, ie. Ripple control it even though they don’t own it. The coop was almost struck off after Financial Conduct Authority action in Autumn 24. We were assured lessons would be learned, it was a one off, and it wouldn’t happen again. Guess what, 6 months later Companies House and have issued a winding up notice on KH Ltd because they haven’t filed accounts for 2023.
The silence from Ripple who control all communication with coop and KH ltd board members is stunning. All we’ve had is a “we’re aware” statement. 2 KH Ltd directors have resigned, including CFO (same guy is also CFO for Ripple, CFO for the coop, and CFO of the Derril Water project) and replaced by directors from the company that has a minority holding in KH Ltd. We found this out from Companies House, nothing whatsoever from Ripple.
So, if you like to worry about your investment, like to be kept in the dark, like not complying with financial legislation, and like being subject to enforcement action from regulators, go ahead and invest in one of their projects.

Ripple energy are not currently investable.

They have good intentions but aren’t capable of basic corporate governance.

They had overdue accounts for the coop on Kirk hill and received a winding up notice from the regulator and now have a strike off notice from companies house for late filing of SPV accounts.

Unfortunately they also seem incapable of accountability towards coop members, only acknowledging issues after members discover them and providing limited assurance.

I would recommend looking elsewhere for renewable investments.

The idea behind Ripple Energy is great, but sadly the execution has been very poor. Last year members were warned that accounts had not been filed on time, and the whole project was at risk of being shut down. We were assured that it was a one-off and they would learn from their mistake. Well barely three months later, and there has been another failure to submit legally required documents on time.
These are the sort of basic accounting steps that every small business owner has to do, so it's hugely concerning to see mistakes being made that could have serious consequences for the people that have invested.

Incompetence, poor communications and a strike off notice in the offing.

Not sure what is happening with Kirk Hill very poor communication. I am investor in company along with wind farm. The whole senior management need sacked and replace by competent management who will at least file accounts on time, follow regulatory deadlines. There is no point in apologising over and over this shows lack of intent or the management is aware the business proposition is not viable. I understand the risk when I invest but not sure the management understand the regulatory deadlines. If the Kirk Hill accounts are audited please correct me. From gov.uk website: First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off
This document is being processed and will be available in 10 days. dated 4th March. If I want to invest with this company I will not think twice, I will think 100 times before giving second thought. The deadline is of 4th March 2025.

GLA

They appear to do just what they say, I have been with them since their first project and am proud to be supporting low carbon electricity generation and am pleasantly surprised to be getting a reasonable return on my investment. As soon as I was allowed by their rules I increased my investment. Their communication shows that they put in a lot of effort.

Ripple offers something unique. A friend in the energy industry recommended them because we were struggling with our electricity bills and couldn't get solar. We've joined a couple of projects now and have really enjoyed the updates on our solar park and wind farm. Obviously these are complex projects that take time in the background but we trust the team know what they're doing as they've done it before. We're especially proud to be building more renewables with all of the depressing news at the moment. So even if the savings aren't huge, we still think it's a worthwhile insurance against prices increasing loads again and doing our bit for the planet.

Not sure why some people feel the need to flag a minor query with negative reviews on Trustpilot... so would take those with a pinch of salt!

its a fantastic idea and more people should get involved, is a no brainer to generate your own energy with no ongoing maintenance or parts to pay for.

I bought in to Kirk Hill not as an investment but as a buffer, to give me payments , which however small , when added to my solar exports make significant reductions in my bills.
It is also an investment in the future environmental health of this country
And for clarity I also have a log burner
I have great faith this project will be a benefit to us all

I thought I would share my opinion on this for any future investors. I invested a fairly significant sum in Whitehall Brae wind farm which appears to have been sold to thrive renewables. I personally believe we should be refunded our investment and given the choice to reinvest once the new terms have been agreed with thrive, they may not be agreed, as this has changed the basis of our investment. If you were to ask me if I would recommend using ripple then I would say no.

I lost £4254.71 to Ripple for a service that I was not aware was shared, DO NOT MAKE THE SAME I MADE, YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK! I requested my moneyback the day after which fell under the 14 day cooling off period but surprise surprise, they seem to have not received my email requesting my money back, you see apparently it is my fault that they didn't receive my email, because I apparently didn't send it despite sharing evidence to show I did, now I know about emails and how sometimes they can end up been put in the wrong folder for example the spam folder instead of the inbox, but that is not the responsibility of the sender of the email to ensure it gets to the inbox, it is the responsibility of the person receiving the email to check, so I raised a dispute with my bank as it was a large amount of money, I even reported the loss to action fraud who gave me a crime reference number, and after 5 months of my bank ignoring me, (thanks chase, helpful as ever) and me literally messaging chase nearly every day for 5 months, they say that I am to blame and that the bank can't do a charge back because apparently I knew what I was buying into and authorized the payment, which yes I did authorized because I thought I was paying for cheaper electricity not shared, so 5 months on I have to kiss goodbye to £4254.71 and just admit defeat because I am never getting my money back, my bank is a waste of air, who don't communicate and clearly are not that bothered about there customers, ripple can go to hell for all I care, and do you want to know the final nail in the coffin? After research after loosing the money, you have to switch to one of there partner energy providers in order to actually benefit, and at the moment, we are unable to switch Energy providers so we wouldn't be able to receive it anyway. READ MY WARNING, THIS COMPANY SELLS SHARES, DO NOT BUY IF YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE DANGERS OF SHARES, RUN FOR THE HILLS, YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Very pleased. Ripple has given me the opportunity to help build the infrastructure and generate as much electricity as I use from a renewable source. We can't afford to wait for government and big business to get their act together and solve everything for us. Mainly invested in the solar farm - due to be 'online' in next few months.

Benefits:
Infrastructure to cover the power I use costs less than installing rooftop solar.

Don't have to have a suitable roof

If I move the amount I save on electricity moves with me.

If lifetime of project is greater than mine (quite likely) shares in project can be inherited.

Each project owned by separate cooperative.

Don't have to be involved in maintenance.

Drawbacks:
As a purely financial investment, could do better elsewhere. That's probably true of installing rooftop solar as well.

Communication - could do better.

Solar farm construction overrun by a few months? Don't think that's unusual for a project costing tens of millions.

Happy bunny

I am bitterly disappointed at not being able to attend the AGM via zoom. I got an error & reported it to support@rippleenergy. No response. I tried again. Same error. No response from customer support who were supposed to be available. I wanted to take part & vote, but couldn't. I got an email allowing me to replay the AGM, This is not good enough. The following day, I complained to customer support. No response. I complained again. No response. Today 6 Dec I got 5 emails acknowlegding my complaints. Where are you?

As other have said, it was late to finish, late online and late submitting tax returns resulting in threats of cancelling the co-op.

It currently would take 22 years to regain the initial outlay, which, considering inflation, would mean a significant loss of capital.

This is NOT an investment, do not put money in thinking you'll get it back. They were asking for positive reviews from the moment I invested, long before the building started and I'm glad I waited to give a sensible review.

26/02/2025 - yet another failure to submit accounts and threats of being struck off. Stay clear of these and look at Octopus.

Ripple did infact go bust and the co-op has continued without them as they were not capable and not doing what they said with the money from investors.

I've invested in Whitelaw Brae, but apparently it's been delayed due to funding issues. There has been very little communication on this, and the project timeline on their website has not been updated since early summer. Questions about the status of the project on their community forum have gone unanswered. I'm beginning to get a bit worried.

What has really spurred me to write this review is reading others members' reviews here and being quite shocked by the responses from Ripple. Not only do the responses ignore customers' legitimate concerns, but they are often sarcastic, passive aggressive, and seem to be trying to shame customers for writing a bad review. This is incredibly unprofessional and gives a very bad impression of the company, and I think Ripple seriously need to look into the training and recruitment processes for their communications team.

The censoring of any critical comments on their community forum also adds to the general impression that Ripple takes a contemptuous view of customer concerns and believes that its higher goals absolve it of the need to pursue more humdrum aims such as basic customer service.

We need more renewables and setting up coops to do it is a great way and I’m glad I joined in!

There have been hiccups but I’m happy with our progress.

I applaud what they are doing in terms of boosting renewables, however their performance of doing it is not impressive.. As has been said, projects are late (6-9 months for Kirk Hill), overbudget, and offering reduced returns.

The Cooperative which I invest in seems to have sold ~50% of the windfarm asset with little to no member discussion, and I have trouble sorting the Coop management from Ripple company management.

The members forum is significantly censored of any critical comment. The FCA have given Ripple / the Coop (again I can't tell which) 8 weeks to produce accounts (more than a year overdue) and meet the other legal requirements - or else..

As far as i can tell the other Ripple Coops (I am only in Kirk Hill) are similarly delinquent.

So 9/10 for concept, 1/10 for execution (they did build some wind farms, so not 0).