‘Cutting through the greenwash’: Australian energy retailers ranked on climate action

Australian electricity providers have been ranked on their climate credentials in a new consumer guide that aims to cut through "greenwash".

Greenpeace's 2022 Green Electricity Guide, released on Tuesday, assessed 48 Australian energy retailers on six main criteria: providing renewable energy, ending coal use by 2030, halting fossil fuel expansion, supporting new renewable energy, transparency of marketing and pollution and environmental harm. Then, each provider was given a score out of five stars and ranked.

This is the first time the guide has been updated since 2018. Glenn Walker, a senior energy campaigner at Greenpeace and author on the 2022 guide says that the researchers placed more emphasis on "cutting through the greenwash and spin" when producing the update. This included reviewing provider websites and marketing materials to "assess how upfront they are with where their energy comes from".

Tim Baxter, senior researcher of climate solutions at Climate Council, says helping consumers see past marketing efforts is important . "Electricity is the most complicated system that most of us never have to think about," he says.

"That makes it difficult for a consumer to know what is happening when they flick their light switch on. A complicated system makes that extremely easy for any provider that is looking to pull the wool over their customers' eyes."

Australia's energy giants make up the bottom of the ranks. "They are the worst polluters, and are the companies people should be switching away from," Walker says.

AGL, Australia's biggest provider, scored one star, placing "dead last" behind Origin and Energy Australia, which also scored one star. The score is a precipitous drop from AGL's fifth place in 2018, but Walker says the result is "no surprise".