Council reaches 20pc greenpower commitment

Border Watch
Friday 2/2/2007 Page: 1

THE City of Mount Gambier is leading the fight against gas emissions by being one of 38 councils across the state to purchase greenpower. Council - which has a massive power bill each year - three months ago signed up to access 20pc of its energy use from greenpower sources.

"Council moved quickly to sign up to greenpower to show we are committed to renewable energy," council operational services director Daryl Sexton said.

He said the cost of greenpower - which was traditionally higher - would not be felt by ratepayers because council's contract was part of a statewide Local Government buying group which meant prices would be lower than last year. Mr Sexton said council had substantial power commitments, which included public lighting and powering its buildings, sporting grounds and aquatic centre.

"A lot of the electricity we use is used for public lighting," he said.

Accredited greenpower is generated by renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, water or biomass - in SA it is mostly wind power. The South East is home to some of the largest operational wind farms in Australia near Millicent.

Grant District Council has also signed up recently to access renewable energy. Council development manager Rod Storan said yesterday council had committed to accessing five percent of its energy needs from greenpower. But he said this figure would be renewed at budget time.

Meanwhile, Local Government president John Rich said 38 councils out of 66 on the national electricity grid (excluding Coober Pedy and Roxby Downs) were now using renewable energy.

Cr Rich said the additional cost of greenpower had turned out to be lower than expected and was partly offset by overall savings in the bulk purchasing of power by councils. He said with the State Government's Contract Service and Local Government bodies, SA councils had saved about $1.3m a year on electricity costs since 2003. "This is about community leadership and recognising the importance of climate change issues," Cr Rich said.

He estimated that if all SA councils achieved the 20pc target, it would reduce greenhouse gas output by some 24,600 tonnes per year - the equivalent to taking 4900 cars off the road. "I would join the Premier's challenge to business and domestic users to make the same switch to help SA become a leader in renewable energy use," Cr Rich said.