Q: What is EarthFriendly?EarthFriendly helps the environment and demonstrates your corporate responsibility, by making your energy consumption greenhouse gas emission neutral.
Your power supply is still generated in the traditional way, but Synergy offsets the greenhouse gas created by the production, handling and supply of your power, by contributing to greenhouse gas reduction programs. You can select what percentage of your power is EarthFriendly — 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%
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Q: Am I eligible for EarthFriendly?- All businesses with a main meter can apply for EarthFriendly.
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Q: What is the Greenhouse Friendly Program? It’s an Australian Government initiative, helping you to find businesses and products that are greenhouse neutral. Just look for the Greenhouse Friendly logo, and help the planet with your purchasing power.
EarthFriendly is the only certified Greenhouse Friendly energy product in WA. Take a look at the Greenhouse Friendly website to find out more.
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Q: How does EarthFriendly comply with the Greenhouse Friendly Program?- EarthFriendly is the only energy product available in WA that’s certified by the Greenhouse Friendly Program. This means Synergy uses proceeds from the EarthFriendly premium, to invest in greenhouse gas reduction projects approved by the Australian Government Greenhouse Office.
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Q: How does EarthFriendly reduce greenhouse gas emissions?- The premium you pay for EarthFriendly, is directed by Synergy into greenhouse gas reduction projects approved by the Greenhouse Friendly Program. One of these projects is methane flaring — which prevents one of the most potent greenhouse gases, methane, from entering our atmosphere. It works by burning and eliminating the methane gas produced from rubbish tips.
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Q: How is EarthFriendly different from normal power?The power you receive is the same as normal power — it comes from the grid, mixed from all our sources including solar, wind, hydro, as well as non-renewable energy.
The big difference is, EarthFriendly results in much less greenhouse gas being emitted into the Earth’s atmosphere. That’s because proceeds from your EarthFriendly premium, are allocated to government approved greenhouse gas reduction activities.
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Q: What is the National Green Power Accreditation Program?The National Green Power Accreditation Program makes sure that when you sign-up for NaturalPower, the environment receives the full benefit. We maintain NaturalPower's Green Power accreditation by:
- sourcing renewable energy from only Green Power approved generators
- supporting industry development, by sourcing energy from recently developed generators
- working transparently - we publicly report on our customer and sales figures, and we are independently audited every year
The Green Power tick is your guarantee that your energy choice is reducing your impact on the environment. For more information, visit the Green Power website.
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Q: How are my EarthFriendly costs calculated?Your total power consumption is split according to the EarthFriendly percentage you’ve previously nominated —either 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of your total power usage. So for instance, your total usage could be divided into 75% EarthFriendly, and 25% regular power.
The EarthFriendly portion is charged at the standard rate, plus a premium. The remaining portion of your power consumption is charged at the standard rate.
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Q: What are my EarthFriendly options?- You can choose to make EarthFriendly 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of your total bill. Your EarthFriendly portion carries a premium, which is invested in greenhouse gas emission reduction.
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Q: If I choose EarthFriendly, how is my account billed?- Your account is billed the normal way, the only difference being a new line description showing your EarthFriendly usage and charge.
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Q: Does EarthFriendly cost much more?- Use our Green Energy Calculator to see how your investment in EarthFriendly can make a real difference to the environment. Doing something good for the planet is less expensive than you might think. In fact, EarthFriendly costs only marginally more per unit than regular power.
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Q: Why is EarthFriendly charged differently?- The process of generating, handling and supplying your power releases greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. But in the case of EarthFriendly, we balance out the environmental impact by contributing to greenhouse gas reduction projects. It’s the cost of funding these projects that affects the price of EarthFriendly.
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Q: Where does my money go if I go with EarthFriendly?Funds from your EarthFriendly premium are used to shrink your carbon footprint. Synergy invests the money on your behalf in projects certified by the government's Greenhouse Friendly Program.
One of these projects is Methane flaring - it uses burning as a method of breaking down the methane produced from rubbish tips. Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases, 21 times more harmful than carbon dioxide in causing global warming.
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Q: Can Synergy contribute to any project that reduces greenhouse gas emissions?- No, the Greenhouse Friendly Program has some strict requirements. So for instance, projects can’t be certified if they’re set-up to satisfy legislation, for commercial reasons, or if they’ve received government funding. The project must be specifically for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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Q: How are the greenhouse gas emissions calculated?The Greenhouse Friendly Program calculates emissions produced at every step of your energy's life-cycle. It takes into account:
- the extraction and processing of coal and gas
- transportation to the power station
- preparing and moving the fuels within the power stations
- energy used in the power stations to run the station
- generating the electricity
- transmitting the electricity to you
- use of the electricity
For our calculations, we use the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) greenhouse intensity figure, published in the AGO Factors and Methods Workbook. The figure is currently 0.98kg CO2e per KW sold.
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Q: Can I choose EarthFriendly on a time-based tariff?- Yes, EarthFriendly can actually be used on any of our tariffs. There’s just one restriction, you can’t purchase EarthFriendly along with NaturalPower at the same time.
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Q: Can I sign-up for EarthFriendly on a subsidiary meter?- No, only main meter customers can subscribe to EarthFriendly. If you’re on a subsidiary meter, and all the subsidiary users connected to your main meter would like to contribute to EarthFriendly, then you should contact your body corporate or landlord.
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Q: Can I cancel EarthFriendly, or make changes once I’ve registered?- Yes, you can cancel or make changes such as altering your percentage of EarthFriendly contribution, any time you like. Just contact us with your instructions, and we’ll backdate your cancellation or changes to the first day of the current billing period. No cancellation or change fees apply.
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Q: What if my business changes address and I'm using EarthFriendly?- Simply contact us if you want to continue with EarthFriendly, and we’ll make sure you’re signed-up at your new address.
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Q: How can I switch to EarthFriendly?- Just apply here and you’ll be registered in no time. It’s really easy to switch to EarthFriendly, and start helping the environment today. That’s it — there’s nothing else to do, and no extra bills to pay.
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Q: What is NaturalPower?- NaturalPower is one of Synergy's green energy options to reduce your environmental impact. The power you are supplied continues to come from both renewable and traditional sources, but your investment in NaturalPower goes towards purchasing only 100% renewable energy including solar and wind power. You can choose what percentage of your total usage is NaturalPower - 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%.
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Q: Who is eligible for NaturalPower?- All businesses with a main meter can apply for NaturalPower.
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Q: Why is choosing NaturalPower good for the environment?- Preventing greenhouse gases from entering our atmosphere, helps protect our environment. Greenhouse gas traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere, causing global warming. These rising temperatures can trigger droughts, fires and higher sea levels. The good news is, when you sign-up to NaturalPower more of the power we provide comes from renewable sources, which produce little or no greenhouse gases.
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Q: What are the benefits of NaturalPower to my business?- It is not just good for the planet, it is good for business to show corporate responsibility, and attract customers who consider the environment before they buy. All your staff can be proud of how your business is reducing its impact on the environment.
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Q: How does NaturalPower work?All your power is still supplied in the same way. It comes from the main grid, made up of solar, wind, hydro and non-renewable power.
The percentage of energy use you nominate as NaturalPower carries a small additional cost. And it is this premium that is used to purchase renewable energy produced right here in WA. This increases the proportion of renewable, environmentally friendly energy we supply to you.
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Q: What are my NaturalPower options?- You can choose to make a NaturalPower contribution on 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of your total bill.
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Q: How are my NaturalPower costs calculated?Your total power consumption is split according to the NaturalPower percentage you have previously nominated - either 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of your total power usage. So for instance, you total usage could be divided into 75% NaturalPower , and 25% regular power.
The NaturalPower portion is charged at the standard rate, plus a premium. The remaining portion of your power consumption is charged at the standard rate.
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Q: Does NaturalPower cost much more?- No, there is a premium charge for NaturalPower, but it is not much more than regular energy. And, you might find there are business benefits to going green. Use our Green Energy Calculator to see how your investment in NaturalPower can make a real difference to the environment. Remember, you can control your spend by changing your percentage of NaturalPower at any time.
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Q: Why does NaturalPower cost more?- NaturalPower costs more than regular power because of the premium that is invested in renewable energy. At the moment, low or no emission renewable energy costs more to produce than regular coal or gas generated power. Your premium will help give renewable energy a bigger market share, and make it more cost competitive in the future.
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Q: Can I be on NaturalPower if I have a time-based tariff?- Yes, NaturalPower can actually be used on any of our tariffs. There is just one restriction, you can not purchase NaturalPower along with EarthFriendly at the same time.
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Q: What if my business is already on a contract with Synergy and I want to subscribe to NaturalPower?- You can sign-up to NaturalPower and still continue with your existing contract.
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Q: Can I have NaturalPower on a subsidiary meter?- Only main meter customers can subscribe to NaturalPower. If you are on a subsidiary meter, and all the subsidiary users connected to your main meter would like to sign-up to NaturalPower, then you should contact your body corporate or landlord.
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Q: Can I cancel NaturalPower, or make changes once I have registered?- Yes, you can cancel or make changes such as altering your percentage of NaturalPower contribution, any time you like. Just contact us with your instructions, and we will backdate your cancellation or changes to the first day of the current billing period. No cancellation or change fees apply.
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Q: What happens if my business moves address and I am subscribing to NaturalPower?- Simply contact us if you want to continue with NaturalPower, and we will make sure you are signed-up at your new address.
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Q: How can I switch to NaturalPower?- Just apply here and you will be registered in no time. It is really easy to switch to NaturalPower, and start helping the environment today. That is it - there is nothing else to do, and no extra bills to pay.
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