Queensland-generated CSG now meets a substantial portion of the east coast energy market's needs, however GetUp and Lock The Gate receive commissions from their joint campaign to get locals to dump electricity retailers involved with the CSG industry and the so-called “dirty three" electricity retailers: Origin Energy, AGL Energy and Energy Australia.
GetUp and Lock the Gate pocket a commission for every person who switches to their recommended retailer, Powershop, which is endorsed by Greenpeace as the "greenest" electricity retailer in Australia.
Neither non-profit group has attempted to obfuscate the deal, and say the funds raised go back to meeting the costs of their activities, and GetUp openly admits it promotes Powershop and operates a small telesales operation.
It is understood that around 16% of Powershop's 38,000 customers had joined it via GetUp or Lock the Gate.
AGL, Australia's biggest single polluter and NSW's only CSG producer, has 3.7 million customers.
Pro-CSG lobby group, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, has warned energy customers from taking financial advice from activist groups, and claims GetUp and Lock the Gate are vilifying Australian companies for financial advantage.
That charge is rejected by Lock the Gate and GetUp, both of whom have argued for years that CSG extraction in Australia's food bowls, such as the Darling Downs, is risky and not sustainable.
They say they are not providing financial advice, as many customers are happy to pay a small premium to support the expansion of renewable energy sources.
After all, people need energy to live.
Powershop is backed by Meridian Energy, Australasia's largest renewable energy generator with seven wind farms and seven hydro stations across Australia and New Zealand.
It is 51% owned by the New Zealand government and has two wind farms in Australia including the 64-turbine Mt Mercer wind farm just outside of Ballarat, which alone is capable of generating energy equivalent to the electricity needs of 80,000 households.
It has only recently launched into NSW, and with clarity around the Renewable Energy Target is keen to expand further within Australia.
Powershop has also said it may support conventional gas sales in the future, but it will only sell gas in the future if it can find a way that minimises the environmental impacts and is opposed to fraccing for gas.
Powershop is also active in Victoria.
