This is good news for anyone who would like to put their electricity purchasing power behind truly sustainable energy. All of the retailers, including Country Energy, offer what they call Greenpower. However, a closer look reveals that what passes for Greenpower includes biomass energy from sugar mills and hydro electricity. Let’s distinguish between ‘renewable’ and truly sustainable. Let’s aim for reduced greenhouse gases and conservation of biodiversity. 55% of Australia’s greenhouse gases come from power generation. As domestic customers, we can make a difference.

Will buying 100% Greenpower increase my bill? Australian Inland Energy offers 10% Green Energy for 11.786 cents per kilowattt hour, 25% for 12.536 cents per kwh, 50% for 13.786 cents per kwh, and 100% for 16.286 cents per kwh. Compare the charges in the table below between Country Energy’s brown power and AIE’s green power. My last Country Energy bill was $80.00 for 210 kwh over 66 days. Of this, $26.00 was for on-peak power, $20.00 was for off-peak power for an electric hot water service (If I owned a house the first thing I would do is buy a solar hot water heater), and $25.00 was the service charge. Then there was GST. My bill said I had released 0.53 tonnes of greenhouse gases. With 100% AIE Greenpower I can expect to pay $34.20 for on-peak power. Off-peak won’t change as it can’t be Greenpower. The service charge will be $16.73. So my total bill might be around $77.00. The dollar cost will be slightly less than brown power, and the environmental cost will be far less. Of course, all the electricity on the grid is one big crackling mass, so it’s not as if I’ll get special windpower in my own powerline. But my money will go into a company which is producing sustainable power, so maybe they’ll grow bigger and become even more competitive.

Australian Inland Energy has a website at www.australianinland.com.au. Their phone number is (08) 808 25800.

-Clara