One of the few 100% carbon neutral energy retailers in Australia, in both its organisation and the products it supplies, Powershop Australia claims to be affordable as well as sustainable, with a strong focus on solar energy. However, it was formally acquired by fossil fuel giant Shell in early 2022.
On this page:
- Which states does Powershop Australia supply?
- CHOICE Expert Rating on Powershop Australia
- CHOICE verdict on Powershop Australia
- Powershop Australia's energy sources
Powershop Australia was established in 2014, and now services the energy needs of over 120,000 customers across Australia.
The company, based in Melbourne, is owned by New Zealand-based Meridian Energy and supplies energy generated from wind farms and hydro power stations owned by its parent company, as well as buying in power from solar and wind farms in Australia. Its call centres are located in New Zealand as well.
Powershop was acquired by Shell in early 2022, as part of a growing green initiative. Though it insists that it will continue to contract renewable electricity from Meridian, some customers questioned the legitimacy of these claims and have accused Powershop of greenwashing.
While Powershop's electricity and gas prices are not the lowest on the market, they are still well below the most expensive of their competitors, and the company offers discounts and incentives for their customers, claiming they help them to keep track of their energy usage and so stay in control of their bills.
Contact details for Powershop Australia
1800 462 668
Which states does Powershop Australia supply?
CHOICE Expert Rating on Powershop Australia
CHOICE verdict on Powershop Australia
Environment
- Powershop is committed to supplying only renewable, carbon-neutral energy to its customers "at no extra cost", and holds a strong public position against fossil fuel investment.
- While the company is not 100% Australian owned, the power supplied to Powershop customers is generated by Australian assets including wind farms, hydro power stations and solar power plants.
- The company's emissions intensity is close to zero, and it offsets all of its organisation's and product's emissions, making Powershop Australia's only power retailer to be certified as 100% carbon neutral.
- However, the Shell purchase has caused its 2019–20 green electricity score to drop from ten stars to seven stars in 2020–21. This is due to Shell's climate pollution record and fossil fuel mining.
- Powershop offers GreenPower Renewable Energy Certificates to its customers, but prices are higher than average.
Customer service
- 406 (0.3%) Powershop customers made complaints in 2021-22, according to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).
- 57% of customer service calls made to Powershop are answered within 30 seconds.
- The average time before a call is answered is 97 seconds.
- 8.2% of callers hang up before their call is answered.
Powershop Australia's energy sources
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
