Anti-Origin rally highlights company’s policy of ‘Strangling Renewables’
Advocacy groups 100% Renewable and Greenpeace staged a rally yesterday disrupting Origin Energy’s Annual General Meeting at City Recital Hall, Angel Place, in Sydney. A recent campaign from Origin citing renewables such as solar and wind as the cause of increasing electricity prices was cited as reasons for the protest, with the group hoping to raise awareness of the policy shift from the energy retailer.
Lindsay Soutar, National Director of 100% Renewable spearheaded the anti-Origin campaign. “Origin’s Managing Director, Grant King, has repeatedly said the renewable energy target is a primary driver of increased energy costs.”
A 15 page report produced and distributed by 100% Renewable subsidiary group Solar Citizens, provides a roadmap of Origin’s investments and their winding back clean energy investment in favour of gas and fossil fuels, including their $24.7 billion investment into a gas project in Queensland.
The report is entitled “Strangling Renewables: Origin Energy’s Campaign Against Renewable Energy”, a message that was echoed through the rally placards.
Claims that the Renewable Energy Target (RET) should be reduced and that renewables are the cause of high energy costs are rebuked:
Furthermore the continual attempts to lay the blame for power price rises at the feet of renewables distorts attention away from the real driver of rising energy bills: nearly 70% of the average Australian’s energy cost are due to network, wholesale and retail costs. With only 6% of the average household electricity bill attributed to so-called ‘green schemes’, claims that the RET is the main driver of price rises is simply inaccurate.
Once known for their support of clean energy production, Origin have recently diversified their business model and shunned the clean energy sector. Policy shifts such as these saw Origin Energy dumped by groups such as Australia Ethical Investment, that offer superannuation and investment fund management into companies that help build a new low-carbon economy, fund medical breakthroughs, technology breakthroughs, efficient transport and more.
“Origin’s short-sighted strategy of investing in dying technology and attempting to strangle new ones may be their plan now, but Origin needs to be careful as they risk consumers walking away as they learn about what they are up to,” says Ms. Soutar.
What was once Origin’s point of difference is now the subject of protests as energy consumers vote with their feet. As always the best options for policy change from energy retailers is for unhappy customers to switch – or even better reduce their reliance on them by joining the solar revolution and installing solar panels!
