Victorians leading the take up of Green Power

Victorians are leading the way in signing up to the Green Power iniative, Victorian Environment Minister, John Thwaites, and Minister for Energy Resources and Industries, Theo Theophanous announced recently.

The number of Victorians switching to the Government accredited scheme Green Power has risen from less than 38,000 to more than 78,000 since March 2005.

Queensland is second to Victoria with 64,639 Green Power customers then NSW with 33,579, SA with 20,217, ACT with 6,363 and WA with 1,127.

The Greenpower scheme allows consumers to choose to have their electricity sourced from renewable sources such as wind, solar, water and waste, cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr Thwaites said Victoria now represents 38 per cent of Green Power customers nationally - with numbers rising an average of 5,000 per month across the State.

"Victorians have answered the Government's call to double Green Power use by the end of 2005 " but we need to keep the momentum going and see more Victorians make the switch to Government accredited Green Power.

"In the first 12 months of purchasing Green Power, these households will collectively cut greenhouse pollution by 117,000 tonnes each year - the equivalent of removing 27,042 cars from Victoria's roads which is a fantastic result for the environment," Mr Thwaites said.

Households in the following suburbs and towns have recorded some of the greatest uptakes of Greenpower across the State: Mount Waverley, Glen Iris, Malvern East, Ballarat, Bendigo, Doncaster East, Mitcham, South Yarra, Doncaster, Frankston, Elwood, Brighton, Northcote, Coburg, Carnegie, Preston, Glen Waverley, Elsternwick, Reservoir and Brunswick.

Mr Theophanous said it was the second year running that Mount Waverley and Glen Iris had led the state in Green Power numbers.

"However, it's pleasing to see that for the first time the regional centres of Ballarat and Bendigo had made the list," Mr Theophanous said.

"Switching to Green Power is as simple as calling your local electricity retailer and asking them to make the switch.

AGL and Origin Energy have been strong supporters of the Green Power challenge.

"Consumers can choose what proportion of their electricity they want to come from accredited Green Power " if people choose to source 100 per cent of their power from renewable sources it will cost about an extra $5 a week, but if they choose to source a smaller proportion from Green Power this can be done in most cases at around a $1 a week," Mr Theophanous he said.

"Green Power is a Government accredited scheme promoting the use of clean, renewable energy, generated from the sun, wind, water and waste and is available from most electricity retailers."

Mr Theophanous urged all Victorians to check that their Green Power products carried the tick of approval label from the National Green Power Accreditation Program.

"The Green Power tick of approval is your guarantee that your purchase will reduce greenhouse pollution and drive investment and jobs in renewable energy," Mr Theophanous said.

"There are stringent environmental and reporting standards for accredited Green Power products offered by electricity suppliers to households and businesses across Australia."

"The Bracks Government is also well on track to meet its own purchase of accredited Green Power from 5 to 10 per cent of its overall electricity consumption by June 2006," Mr Thwaites said.

All Victorians can switch to Green Power by contacting their electricity retailer or visiting Green Power