Origin Energy is lobbying to block investment in renewable energy.
If we raise enough money to blanket Google with ads, we can make sure whenever CEO Grant King or any of his friends and shareholders go searching for Origin news they'll be bombarded with our message.
In just two weeks Origin's shareholders will propose paying King a $3.5m bonus for his efforts blocking investment in clean energy.
If you think that's not right -- join us now!
Imagine you're Grant King, the CEO of Origin Energy. You run one of the largest power companies in Australia, with millions of customers. You take home a salary of $8.5 million a year -- 140 times the average Aussie salary -- and you're looking forward to getting a big, fat $3.5 million bonus at your annual shareholder meeting next week.
But you're a little worried. You see, despite the fact that the vast majority of Australians (and your own customers) want to be able to use more clean energy and less dirty fossil fuels, you've been lobbying the government to lower investment in renewables because it might cut into your profits. And for the first time ever, you're facing real public pressure.
You've just received a petition from a consumer watchdog group, SumOfUs.org, signed by thousands of your own customers and potential future customers across Australia. And a coalition of environmental groups are going to show up at the annual meeting to make sure shareholders know the public is onto you.
You're just trying to stay out of the public eye. No one really knows your name. No one really knows that it's you doing all the lobbying... Maybe you can just slip this one under the radar and still get that bonus?
Then you start getting reports from colleagues. When they Google search your name, and your company's name, there are ads popping up, saying you're trying to undermine renewable energy in Australia. Now you’re really nervous.
As Origin celebrates efforts to cap our Renewable Energy Targets -- one of the main reasons for the renewable energy investment that's happened so far in Australia -- the Government is continuing its consultation and will decide whether or not to raise the targets.
Since the RET was introduced in 2001 we've invested $18.5 billion in clean power, and wholesale prices for energy are as much as $10 per megawatt hour lower. If we're able to block King's efforts, Australia will use 12% less coal-fired generation power by 2030, and gas will drop 13%.
Our energy suppliers should not be able to use their dominance of the sector to block competition and investment that will reduce the cost of energy and help the environment. We know the majority of Australians support clean energy, and that's why between now and the AGM, we don't want Mr King and his shareholders to be able to turn anywhere online without being confronted by our message of support for renewables. We're going to do that by blanketing Origin with Google AdWords. Whenever someone searches online for "Origin Energy" or "Grant King", or those words pop up in their email, they will be hit with our message that Australians demand clean energy.
For $50, or whatever you can afford, you can help make sure when a journalist searches for info on Origin before the AGM, they see our message. When customers look for where to pay their bill, they will see their energy provider is splashing $3.5m cash on a CEO who's responsible for blocking clean energy investment. And when shareholders and Mr King look at press articles about the company, right there, alongside, will be our message that what they're doing is wrong and Australians won't stand idly by.
King will continue to negotiate with Government backbenchers to block rising targets as long as he thinks he can get away with it. Let's make sure he knows we're onto him.
Thank you,
Paul, Taren, Kaytee and the rest of us.