EnergyAustralia: Австралияның энергия компаниясы және экологиялық мәселелер

Australian energy company
the company previously named TRUenergy

EnergyAustralia (formerly TRUenergy) is an electricity generation, electricity and gas retailing private company in Australia. It is one of the "big three" retailers in the National Electricity Market. It generates electricity primarily using coal fired generation, at the Yallourn Power Station in Victoria, and the Mount Piper Power Station in New South Wales. It is Australia's second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, after AGL Energy. As a loss making company in 2023, its parent in Hong Kong, CLP Group, has stated that it is looking for partners for renewable energy investment, however as of this time, there were no plans to build new renewable energy itself. It has committed to closing Yallourn Power Station in 2028,

Over 400,000 customers have opted in to EnergyAustralia's "carbon neutral" product, offered at no additional cost, however this product has led to legal accusations of "greenwashing". In 2011, TRUenergy acquired from the New South Wales Government the state's electricity retail business and trade name of EnergyAustralia. Following the sale of the government's electricity retail assets, the government changed the name of the remainder of the government enterprise to Ausgrid, and in 2012 TRUenergy changed its name to EnergyAustralia. In 2015, EnergyAustralia closed its call centre in Melbourne, outsourcing up to 300 jobs to the Philippines. In 2018, EnergyAustralia became one of the 17 energy businesses who supported the launch of the Energy Charter, a global initiative aimed at bringing together all parts of the power supply chain to give customers more affordable and reliable energy. In 2021, EnergyAustralia announced that it will close the Yallourn Power Station in mid 2028, four years ahead of schedule, and instead build a 350 megawatt power generating battery in the Latrobe Valley by the end of 2026. At the time, Yallourn produced about 20% of Victoria's electricity.

EnergyAustralia supplies electricity and natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential and business customers throughout Australia. In 2021 22, it emitted 16.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, making it Australia's second largest emitter. EnergyAustralia also owns the gas fired Hallett Power Station in South Australia with a capacity of
In addition to the retail function, EnergyAustralia has a significant portfolio of industrial and commercial customers, and a A$5 billion portfolio of energy assets, including Hallett Power Station, Wallerawang Power Station (now decommissioned), and Mount Piper Power Station. It owned an underground natural gas storage facility at the Iona Gas Plant near Port Campbell until 2015. In September 2023, the ACCC, the competition regulator, commenced legal action in regard to EnergyAustralia allegedly not complying with industry regulations around transperancy in pricing, in 2022. EnergyAustralia may face millions of dollars of fines in regard to this.

EnergyAustralia offers a carbon neutral electricity option to their customers by purchasing carbon offset units from a range of Australian and international offset projects including renewable energy projects in developing countries, land management and tree planting in Australia. It is certified by Climate Active, the Australian government's certification product. However, it does not commence until 6 months after an accounts connection date, and if the account number changes, the six month counter restarts. This is not clearly advertised, however it is in their terms and conditions. In relation to this product, in August 2023, a lawsuit was filed in the Federal Court of Australia, accusing EnergyAustralia of greenwashing, aiming to bar them from making deceptive claims about their product in the future. EnergyAustralia stated that their product complied with the federal government's Climate Active certification product. According to Michael Mazengarb, a consultant in renewable energy and climate change policy, EnergyAustralia is by far the largest buyer of offsets under the Climate Active certification. It is able to afford to offer this product at no additional cost to its customers, because "the offsets are so cheap".