Momentum Energy wins Canstar Blue Green Excellence Award

A knockout in this area has proven to be Australian-owned Momentum Energy, a provider that’s driving consumer support for renewable energy across the market. And its efforts haven’t gone unrecognised, with this strategy scoring the provider a Canstar Blue Green Excellence Award.

What is Momentum Energy’s driving consumer support for renewable energy?

Momentum Energy’s driving consumer support for renewable energy is a strategy that aims to educate, promote and invest in cleaner energy sources that encourages consumers to get behind the growth of renewables in the Australian retail energy market.

As part of this, Momentum Energy highlights to bill-payers the importance of picking a “pro-renewable” power company – i.e. one that supports renewable generation and can help decarbonise the grid – over companies that simply rely on smaller carbon offset programs. Under this same notion, the retailer also heavily promotes and educates customers on the benefits of adding GreenPower to their electricity plans. GreenPower is a government-accredited program that allows retailers to buy renewable energy to then be incorporated into the grid on behalf of their consumers. This is usually at an additional cost to the customer, but typically no more than 8c per kilowatt hour (kWh) from Momentum Energy.

Additionally, Momentum has initiated a ‘Renewable Promise’, which pledges that it will make sure enough renewable energy is produced each year to cover the entirety of its residential and small business customers’ electricity usage.

Further to this point, the retailer also provides its large business customers with direct access to renewable energy via Momentum’s Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPAs) and Behind the Meter Solar PPAS (BTM PPAs). These programs allow Momentum’s team to work directly with businesses to design bespoke offerings that allow them to meet their sustainability targets through the purchasing of energy from identifiable renewable generators and Large Generation Certificates.

Aside from driving customer support, Momentum Energy also aids the renewable energy space through its parent company, Hydro Tasmania, which heavily contributes to the generation and development of renewables – namely hydropower – for the National Electricity Market (NEM).

Why do we like Momentum Energy’s driving of consumer support for renewable energy?

Most retailers can easily incorporate carbon offset programs or GreenPower initiatives to their electricity plans. But to truly see customer engagement in renewables, it takes more than just an added option on a power plan.

It takes education, promotion and encouragement to allow consumers to comprehend the power behind their energy choices, which makes Momentum Energy and its strategy a valuable asset in driving a sustainable future.

“Where consumers put their dollar plays an important role in the renewable energy transition, and without guidance or support, many would simply remain confused or unbeknownst to their options,” said Canstar Blue’s Energy Editor, Jared Mullane.

“By creating and promoting resources around renewables in this sector, Momentum Energy has actively equipped customers with the knowledge they need to help drive the shift to cleaner energy.”

“Green energy is certainly an area where consumer interest is growing. In fact, in Momentum’s submission, it shared that after 12 months or so of promoting GreenPower as an option on its plans, it saw a 311 per cent increase in the number of customers signing up to this initiative.”

“This year’s judging panel commended Momentum Energy for its efforts in raising awareness to greener energy generation, particularly through its use of promotion, education and its ‘Renewable Promise’ – an initiative for residential and small business customers.” 

Jared Mullane – Canstar Blue Energy Editor

Momentum Energy’s support for the generation of hydroelectricity in the country has also made this candidate a standout. The retailer highlighted in its submission to Canstar Blue that it purchases 4,100 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of power from Hydro Tasmania each year to serve its customer base. Momentum Energy claims that this amount of power allows it to incorporate more renewable energy into the grid than what its customers use each year.

What are Canstar Blue’s Green Excellence Awards?

Canstar Blue’s Green Excellence Awards recognise products, services and initiatives that empower consumers to make sustainable choices across categories including energy, telecommunications and appliances. Our judges assess submissions based on criteria such as environmental impact and targets, a company’s commitment to sustainability, and the accessibility and affordability of the product, service or initiative.

Read the full Canstar Blue Green Excellence Awards Methodology

Momentum Energy Plans

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