What's it all about?

Why you should make the switch to clean, renewable energy

The electricity you use at home has a direct impact on the environment.

Burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas to generate electricity contributes to climate change - the biggest and most serious environmental threat that we face.

Using clean, renewable energy like wind and solar does not produce harmful toxic, climate-changing pollution.

As a consumer you have the power to choose clean electricity and reject dirty fossil fuel based energy! Greenpeace has collated the necessary information to make the choice easy.

We investigated all New Zealand electricity providers that feed into the national grid. We looked at how they currently generate electricity and their future generation plans. For this edition we also factored in each company's energy efficiency programmes and whether they encourage households to generate their own renewable electricity by enabling them to connect to the local lines network and sell back any excess electricity they generate.

 The result is the Clean Energy Guide - 2nd Edition

 On the basis of this information we've ranked each company according to their impact on the climate now and what their impact is likely to be in the future. The worst climate offenders are in the RED at the top of the thermometer and the cleanest electricity providers are at the bottom in the GREEN.

Why a thermometer? Because the more carbon dioxide produced by the burning of oil, coal and gas, the hotter the world gets and the more the climate changes.

Almost anyone with an electricity account can switch to a cleaner electricity supplier with little more than a phone call or by filling in an online form.

Will it cost anything? In some areas you could end up saving money by making the switch to clean, renewable energy. In other places it could cost less than a cup of coffee a week.

By switching your energy supply you send a strong message to the energy companies that Kiwis do not want to buy - or promote - dirty electricity.

This ranking reflects the opinion of Greenpeace and is intended to give Greenpeace supporters an indication of the relative impact of different electricity companies on the climate. The ranking assesses companies on their relative impact on climate change only. It does not assess companies on other environmental issues, nor is it an endorsement of any company. It only ranks electricity companies that feed into the national grid and does not include parent or subsidiary companies, except retail companies that do not own any of their own generation. In those instances, the retailer was given the same ranking as the parent generator company.

KIWIS CARE ABOUT CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY

 TNS conducted an independent survey on behalf of Greenpeace in October 2005 on public attitudes to electricity generation.

70% of people surveyed would prefer to purchase electricity that comes from clean, renewable generation sources such as wind or hydro.

The survey results showed clearly that people are willing to put their money where their principles are when it comes to choosing clean energy. 66% of people surveyed said they would be willing to pay more for clean, renewable electricity.
And more recent surveys suggest these sorts of concerns have only grown since 2005. A Colmar Brunton poll in May 2007 found that 78 per cent of New Zealanders believe climate change is happening and nine out of ten people believe it's our actions that are causing it.

The Colmar Brunton Market Mood Monitor in March 2007 showed that global warming is changing the way New Zealanders think about the companies from which they purchase products and services. A quarter (25%) have taken into consideration a company's contribution to global warming when deciding to do business with them. One in ten New Zealanders (12%) have actually stopped buying a company's products or service because it is contributing too much to global warming.