Case Studies
The following case studies attempt to bring to life a little of what we do each day. Please select a case study to view:
Community spirit delivers solar revolution (video)
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Mark Welsby and his neighbours in front of his home in Berowra Heights.
A group of 22 families in Berowra Heights in New South Wales banded together to take positive action against climate change by installing rooftop solar systems - and in the process will save themselves money on their energy bills.
One of the residents, Mark Welsby, was a driving force behind the initiative.
“I have a large roof with a good north facing aspect, so I always thought solar could work for me. I am definitely not a ‘greeny’ or anything. I just wanted to do the right thing,” Mark said.
A self-confessed “conscientious accountant”, Mark realised that with the NSW Government’s Solar Credits Scheme, which provides generous gross feed-in tariffs for residential solar systems, a solar energy system was suddenly an affordable option.
After purchasing Origin’s 1.5KW solar system, Mark mentioned his plans to some neighbours. With the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint and save on their electricity bills, it wasn’t long before another 21 homes in the street and surrounding area had signed up.
Solar works by capturing energy from the sun in solar photovoltaic panels located on the roof of people’s homes. This energy is then transferred to the electricity grid after going through an inversion process. This exported energy is then offset against the customers’ consumption through their electricity bill, which can result in significant savings in the long run.
Based on the maximum output of the 1.5kW systems per year, each household could save up to 2.2 tonnes of carbon emissions. Collectively, this could save up to 48.8 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. This carbon reduction is equivalent to the approximate fuel consumption of 13 average cars being driven for a year*.
As in most communities, good news like this spread fast. “After our installations, I was fielding so many enquiries I had to set up a special email address to manage them all. Now we’ve got more than 40 homes in Berowra Heights and Cowan with solar,” Mark said.
* This is based on 3.6 tonnes of CO2e per car per year. Average Australian fuel consumption is 11.5L/100km with cars driving on average 13,700km/year (ABS 2007 http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/9208.0) and based on the petrol conversion factors as per July 2010 DCC 2010 NGA Factors.
Origin keeps the lights on for families in distress (video)
When focusing on addressing personal health issues or caring for a loved one who has fallen ill, many people can suffer additional stress from an inability to manage their finances and ensure the bills continue to get paid on time.
Kildonan UnitingCare, a Victorian-based community organisation, alerted Origin to the fact that impacts on health and wellbeing can quickly lead to financial vulnerability, especially when the illness relates to a child. The service attempts to minimise the financial setbacks often experienced by families in these unfortunate circumstances, however Kildonan was in need of support to ensure the service’s long-term stability. Consequently, Origin and Kildonan have been operating a financial counselling service at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
“Origin’s Power On program has been specifically designed to assist vulnerable and disadvantaged customers. But we also recognise that financial challenges are not limited to our customer base,” said Tom Keenan, Origin’s Customer Advocacy Manager.
Assistance provided by the service includes help with negotiations with creditors, advocacy about consumer rights and responsibilities and details on government assistance and entitlements.
Mary-Ann Jones, a Financial Counselor with Kildonan, believes her role is to give people one less thing to worry about.
“Families are stressed about how they’re going to meet their payments while they’re not able to work or do anything. I give them information and when they leave the office, they’re relieved. They can concentrate on their child and know that their house, gas and electricity will still be there when they get home,” she said.
Origin’s involvement has allowed for the expansion of the program – it is now in hospitals in four major cities and two rural locations. The ultimate measure of the success of the program is the people it supports, and over the past 18 months it has supported 86 patients and their families in Victoria and provided assistance to more than 200 individuals and families.
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Helping vulnerable and disadvantaged families through our Power On program.
The greenest AFL Grand Final in history
Nick Riewouldt, Captain of St Kilda Football Club
Since forming an official partnership with the AFL four years ago, Origin has helped to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the sport by over 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions*. While this is a great start, this year we took even further measures to reduce the environmental impact of one of Australia’s favourite games.
In September, for the very first time, the Toyota AFL Grand Final was powered by 100 per cent GreenPower sources. This means that Origin matched (into the electricity grid) 100 per cent of the estimated energy used for the AFL Grand Final with electricity from renewable sources including wind and hydro.
“We were really proud to provide 100 per cent GreenPower for this year’s Grand Final,” said Phil Craig, Origin’s General Manager Retail.
In addition, we also matched into the grid 25 per cent GreenPower of the estimated energy used at the other eight AFL Finals Series games from accredited GreenPower sources.
“Choosing accredited GreenPower instead of standard electricity is an easy way to reduce the environmental impact of energy use. By powering one of the biggest sporting events on the Australian calendar, we reduced the carbon footprint of Australia’s favourite game by nearly 270 tonnes*,” Phil said.
To put this into perspective, this reduction is equivalent to around 350 average Australian homes not using any electricity for the whole month of September*.
AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou said he welcomed the opportunity to partner with Origin to further reduce the AFL’s environmental impact.
“The 2010 Toyota AFL Grand Final reached more than 3 million people. By using 100 per cent Origin GreenPower at the MCG on September 25, the AFL helped educate the community about the simple ways we can reduce our carbon footprint,” Mr Demetriou said.
Note: The result of the first Grand Final was a draw, which meant the game had to be replayed the following week. Origin also provided 100 per cent GreenPower for the Grand Final replay.
* These environmental savings calculations are based on: (a) the purchase of 200MWh of GreenPower, which we estimate to be the minimum quantity of GreenPower that we will purchase for the Toyota AFL Finals Series and Grand Final; (b) an emissions factor of 1.34 kgCO2e = 1 kW (“National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors”, Department of Climate Change, June 2009); and (c) average Australian household consuming 6,840 kWh per annum (“Energy Use in the Australian Residential Sector”, Department of Climate Change, 2008).
Providing green energy to Australia’s first public electric vehicle charging station
Origin aims to provide Australians with a range of innovative energy solutions to help better manage their energy use, as well as products that help reduce their carbon footprint. Over the past 12 months we have continued our work in this area.
In May, we helped introduce Australia’s first public on-street electric vehicle charging station, which utilises 100 per cent GreenPower provided by Origin. The charging station was introduced as part of a trial initiative between GoGet CarShare, ChargePoint Australia, the City of Sydney and Origin.
The purpose of the trial is to provide people with the opportunity to experience the rapidly evolving electric vehicle technology. GoGet has enabled people to experience electric vehicle travel by providing a modified Toyota Prius that can be plugged in and recharged at the on-street vehicle charging station.
Plug-in hybrid vehicles contain both a petrol powered engine and an electric motor. When driving in electric mode, the electric motor draws power from rechargeable batteries. The batteries for the electric motor can be recharged by connecting via a plug on the car to an external power source.
Each day more than 700,000 cars travel throughout the Sydney Local Government Area, significantly contributing to smog, greenhouse gas pollution, congestion and noise. Electric vehicles are quieter than normal vehicles and have the option to produce zero greenhouse gas emissions when the electric battery is charged with 100 per cent GreenPower.
As energy partner for the trial, Origin provides 100 per cent certified GreenPower for electric vehicle charging. Electricity supplied by Origin will be enough to travel approximately 40,000km throughout the 12-18 month trial.
Sydney’s first charging station has been set up next to the designated GoGet on-street pod location at Derby Place, Glebe in New South Wales. At this location, the plug-in hybrid vehicle can be dropped off and picked up by subscribers to the GoGet service.
The Glebe charging station will provide behavioural and energy usage data which will be vital for effective and efficient energy management and future infrastructure planning by the City of Sydney.
Sydney joins cities such as San Francisco, Amsterdam, Philadelphia, Houston, Detroit, Vancouver and London who all have installed public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Luxury getaways go carbon neutral
One of the sources of renewable energy is wind farms.
The Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, which uses renewable energy provided by Origin, is the first hotel in the world to achieve internationally accredited carbon neutral certification. Located in Lithgow, New South Wales, the resort received carboNZero certification within three months of opening to the public.
CarboNZero is an internationally accredited greenhouse gas certification scheme, which means that greenhouse gas emissions from the resort’s operations have been independently measured and verified in accordance with international standards.
Origin has played a part in this achievement by supplying 35 per cent of the resort’s power from renewable energy.
Emirates Hotels and Resorts, the owners of the resort, approached Origin to provide the green electricity, with the venture involving the supply of nearly 1.7 GW of green energy per year.
“As Australia’s number one green energy provider, Origin recognises the need for sustainable development in all types of commodities and services, including the hotel industry,” said Paul Taylor, Origin Business Manager Brisbane.
“We are committed to providing energy products that help both our retail and commercial customers like Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, reduce their carbon emissions,” he said.
Alongside the use of renewable energy, the Resort’s carbon neutral status was attained through a combination of other initiatives, including large-scale environmental rehabilitation programmes, removal of cattle from the property, and protection of existing remnant vegetation areas. To date, over 175,000 indigenous trees have been planted in wildlife corridors and along creek banks at the site.
