Greenpeace slams Big 3 “dirty” energy retailers

Environmental group Greenpeace has slammed the “Big 3” energy retailers in Australia, accusing them of “greenwash” and doing little to promote the adoption of green energy.

Among the worst greenwash offenders it says are AGL, EnergyAustralia and Origin Energy – the biggest retailers in the country with more than three quarters of the national market.

“The ‘Dirty Three’ go to great efforts to advertise their ‘clean and green’ credentials but invest relatively little in renewables,” Greenpeace says in its new Green Electricity Guide.

“The ‘Dirty Three’ are also using their political muscle to try to dismantle the Renewable Energy Target.

“This means locking out solar and wind, and locking in higher household bills and climate change driving coal and gas power for decades to come.”

As RenewEconomy noted in its report, Who is the Greenest Retailer in Australia”, all of the major retailers have argued for the renewable energy target to be diluted, and support for rooftop solar removed.

The retailers have also admitted that the removal of the carbon price is good for the long term prospects of their coal-fired generators. If the RET is also diluted, this will also likely boost their revenues by more than $5 billion.

Greenpeace’s new analysis, The Dirty Three, is particularly critical on their stance on the RET.

“When it was introduced, the Renewable Energy Target was supported by the big three energy companies,” it writes.

“The policy requires them to source an increasing amount of the electricity they sell to customers from renewable energy, such as solar and wind. By 2020, the amount of electricity generated from renewables in Australia should be equivalent to at least 20 per cent of the total supply.

“In recent years Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia have made it clear that they do not support the Renewable Energy Target, and want to see it wound back substantially.

“AGL has traditionally been much more supportive of both the Renewable Energy Target and renewables. Yet AGL recently stated that the 2020 target cannot be met, a position which undermines political support for the target.

“Disappointingly, at this critical time in the development of clean energy in Australia, the big three energy retailers which dominate our electricity market have become ‘The Dirty Three’: expanding investments in coal and gas, attacking  or undermining the Renewable Energy Target, and thus threatening the future of renewable energy in Australia.”

Greenpeace says its Green Electricity Guide looks at whether retailers – large or small – have invested in renewable energy, if they support or undermine the RET, whether they are active in coal seam gas, and analyses the pollution intensity of their generation assets.

“The Green Electricity Guide draws a line in the sand between companies which are working towards a renewable energy future and those which are desperately clinging to Australia’s old, coal-powered legacy,” Greenpeace writes.

“Let’s show ‘The Dirty Three’ that we won’t be complacent about their attempt to weaken Australia’s Renewable Energy Target by making the switch to a greener