SYDNEY, Australia, March 21, 2007.
Australia has more than 381,000 customers of green power, according to the latest report from the government-accredited GreenPower.
The national total for Q4 of last year was an increase of 37,761 consumers since Q3, and was highest in Victoria with 162,270 (up 20,169), followed by Queensland at 90,720 (+6,554), New South Wales 68,053 (+3,004), South Australia 49,734 (+6,006), Western Australia 2,989 (+1,352) and ACT with 8,023 consumers (+676).
The total of domestic customers was 364,443 and 17,346 commercial customers, although GreenPower sales to commercial customers was 143,075 MWh in Q4 while domestic customers purchased 83,369 MWh. Total sales were 226,445 MWh, up 42% from the same quarter in 2005.
GreenPower products totaled 27 from 15 retailers across Australia, with ten in NSW, seven in VIC and SA, and 5 in ACT and QLD.
“In the past 12 months, Victorian households and businesses buying GreenPower have cut greenhouse pollution by an additional 188,489 tonnes, the equivalent of removing 43,530 cars from Victoria's roads and a fantastic result for the environment,” says state environment minister John Thwaites. Energy minister Peter Batchelor says Victoria represented 43% of GreenPower customers nationally.
Green Electricity Watch says Origin’s GreenEarth Solar and GreenEarth Wind products are the two leading accredited green power products on the market in Australia. It is the third consecutive time that Origin’s green power products have lead the other 14 electricity retailers assessed.
