Right now, more than 70% of Australians get their electricity from AGL, Origin and EnergyAustralia – three of the biggest polluters in the country. But together, we’re using our power as consumers to switch to a cleaner, greener, low-cost alternative and help support Australia’s renewable energy future. Click here to find out more about switching away from fossil fuels.
t’s time for a change: A new consumer movement of more than 14,000 people and counting, GetUp’s Better Power campaign is all about helping you choose a greener, cleaner energy company that won’t cost the earth.
A switch for good. By switching through the Better Power campaign you’ll be:
– Moving to an energy company ranked greenest in Australia by Greenpeace and cheapest in NSW and Vic by St Vincent de Paul
– Enjoying cheap rates and better service than your current provider
– Showing your support for renewable energy, with a retailer backed by a 100% renewable power generator
– Offsetting your power so your household electricity is carbon-neutral (for free!)
– Helping fund GetUp campaigns that support renewable energy rather than dirty and polluting coal-fired power and coal seam gas
– Best of all, you’ll also be holding to account Australia’s three largest energy companies – AGL, EnergyAustralia and Origin. By switching, you’ll tell them that you want them to clean up their act, stop investing in dirty power from coal and coal seam gas, and start supporting renewable energy.
Why Powershop?
For the Better Power campaign, GetUp has partnered with Powershop, ranked the greenest energy retailer in Australia by Greenpeace in 2014 and 2015. It is Australia’s only carbon neutral energy provider, offsetting all the carbon its customers may generate through their electricity usage. Powershop has championed a strong Renewable Energy Target – policy critical to Australia’s clean energy future, it’s backed by a 100% renewable energy company and it’s pledged to never invest in coal seam gas or coal-fired generation.Powershop has also been rated as one of the cheapest power retailers in Victoria and New South Wales by surveys like the St Vincent De Paul Society’s Tariff Tracker and the Victorian government’s Essential Services Commission. With Powershop there are no contracts or lock-in fees, and the best part is Powershop will contact your existing retailer and arrange everything on your behalf. They’ll even pay up to $75 if your existing provider hits you with a break-contract fee.It’s really easy to join this exciting new consumer revolution – in fact, it only takes 5 minutes. You can join over 14,000 Australians who have made the switch to Powershop now by clicking one of the buttons above or on the top right.
Support for GetUp
GetUp receives a commission for every person who switches to Powershop through the Better Power campaign. This comes at no cost to the person who switches, and funds raised are fed directly back into our renewable energy and environmental campaigns. We’ve raised more than $1 million to date, and 80% of the people who switched said this was a major reason for going with Better Power.Join the consumer revolution and make the switch or pledge to switch now!Switch in 5 minutes!
1. Grab your credit card or bank details – you’ll need them first. You
don’t need an existing electricity bill to switch.
2. Click on one of our links to switch online, or phone 1800 658 433 and tell them you’re calling about the Better Power campaign
3. Fill in the simple online form, or talk through your switch over the phone
4. Relax, Powershop will do the hard work for you by arranging everything
5. Feel good that you’ve changed your energy provider to one that cares about the environment!
IMPORTANT:If you have solar panels or are on GreenPower – make sure you give Powershop a call.GetUp has a 100% GreenPower offer with Powershop but you won’t automatically be switched to it when you sign up. You need to select it online after you’ve switched or request it over the phone. If you’ve had solar panels for a while, you may be on a good fixed feed-in-tariff rate that Powershop won’t be able to match. Make sure you call and get a full comparison with solar rates first, before you decide whether to switch.
1. What is my energy company up to?
GetUp members have been telling us they want to switch to an energy company that supports renewable energy. But like 70 percent of the population of Australia, recent surveys have shown that the majority of our members are with one of the “Dirty Three” (AGL, EnergyAustralia and Origin). When we looked at how they generate energy, it’s pretty clear that the three largest energy companies in Australia are continuing to invest significantly in coal and gas, but they are investing relatively little in renewables. Small wonder they are attacking the RET. Check out our report for the full story: The “Dirty 3”: the truth about AGL, EnergyAustralia and Origin
2. Who should I switch to?
GetUp is working with Powershop in Victoria and New South Wales, and is looking to expand this campaign to other states very soon. We are recommending a switch to Powershop because they are backed by a 100% renewable energy company and they actively support renewable energy and the RET. Those are just some of the reasons Greenpeace Australia and the Total Environment Centre ranked Powershop the greenest power company in Australia.As a retailer backed by a 100% renewable energy company, Powershop is able to pass on the lower wholesale costs of electricity from renewable energy to its customers. It operates two wind farms in South Australia and Victoria and both wind farms produce more renewable energy than the total energy Powershop sells which is why switching to Powershop is helping to support renewable energy. However, like other energy retailers, Powershop buys the electricity it sells from the National Electricity Market, which is generated by a mixture of coal, gas and renewable energy. To offset this, Powershop is a 100% carbon neutral energy retailer. That means that when you buy their standard (black) power, they will offset the carbon emissions (by purchasing United Nations certified certificates) from the generation of that power for you, at no extra cost. The GetUp offer is for Powershop’s standard 100% carbon neutral power. We believe that buying 100% GreenPower is the best thing you can do to support renewable energy in Australia. Powershop sells a range of GreenPower products and we encourage GetUp members who switch to buy them. Powershop customers can buy GreenPower from community energy projects, landfill gas, energy from sugar milling and other wind farms as well as its own two Australian wind farms. There is a higher charge for GreenPower as when you buy one of their GreenPower products, Powershop will purchase additional certificates (Renewable Energy Certificates) and pass that on to help support those renewable energy projects. Every time a GetUp supporter switches to Powershop through Better Power, GetUp receives a payment that helps fund the Better Power campaign to support renewable energy and campaign against dirty coal and coal seam gas.