Sunday Telegraph
27/05/2007 Page: 35
ALMOST 700 households a day in NSW are choosing to pay extra to have their homes powered from solar, wind or water energy sources. Compared with other states and territories, NSW is now leading the nation in the number of residents requesting that energy companies supply their electricity from a renewable source.
Figures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph show the volume of green power purchased by NSW residents this year alone is enough to light the Sydney Harbour Bridge continuously for 55 years. The trend is expected to encourage the development of additional wind farms and suppliers of solar energy. Must of Australia's electricity comes from burning coal, with around eight per cent from a renewable source.
Under the national GreenPower scheme, companies can be directed by the customer to purchase energy sourced from the sun, the wind, water or waste. Energy suppliers who sell accredited Green Power products buy electricity generated from accredited renewable energy generators and then feed it into the national electricity grid. Customers choosing the GreenPower option pay between $15 and $100 extra on their quarterly energy bill.
Figures supplied to the NSW Government by the State's energy companies show a record 62,000 households in NSW chose the GreenPower option in the first quarter of this year. The number of customers requesting that EnergyAustralia sources renewable power has doubled in the past year. NSW Energy Minister Ian Macdonald said a total of 130,000 households and businesses in NSW had signed up to a GreenPower scheme.
He attributed the trend to increasing community awareness about global warming and new laws introduced in January that require retailers to offer at least 10 per cent of GreenPower energy to new residential customers or those relocating.
GreenPower was launched in NSW in 1997. Nationally, more than 500,000 residents have signed up to the scheme.
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