Sustainable energy pays off
MADISON REIDY continues our series on the UN-sanctioned steps businesses are taking to meet their sustainable development goals and reduce their impact on society.
New Zealand’s power providers are ‘‘pretty good’’ at looking after the environment, the boss of one of the big five electricity retailers says.
Contact Energy chief executive Dennis Barnes said he had no problem admitting that his company acted sustainably because it benefited its bottom line.
‘‘You will not get the chance to continue to monetise natural resources if you are not sustainable,’’ he said.
Sustainability was in the DNA of his power-generating business, not a planned effort, Barnes said.
‘‘[Some of our power plants] have been operating since the mid-1950s. So we think about sustainability of our operations in a multi-generational sense.’’
Chief executive of competitor Mercury Energy, Fraser Whineray, stressed the same point. He said sustainability was intrinsic in his organisation.
Whineray said Mercury’s decade-long agreements with Ma¯ori land and river trusts meant his company had to think longterm and therefore act in an environmentally and commercially sustainable way.
‘‘Without engagement with natural resources, we would not be here,’’ Whineray said.
‘‘We have been around for 90 years, we will be around for another 90, so all of those things have to be nurtured.’’
Whineray agreed that his company acted sustainably because it paid off monetarily but it did not underlie Mercury’s environmental efforts.
‘‘If our investors want long-term returns, we have to be sustainable,’’ he said.
Meridian Energy retail general manager Neal Barclay said it would be ‘‘dumb’’ for electricity companies not to take care of the environment.
Doing so kept Meridian in operation and would lead to its long-term financial success, he said.
‘‘[Meridian] has a strong intent to leave the assets we manage and the natural resources we use in as good if not better condition than they are today for future generations of New Zealanders,’’ Barclay said.
He said New Zealand’s energy industry was the envy of other countries because about 85 per cent of its power was created by renewable sources such as wind, water and geothermal.
All utility companies in New Zealand were ‘‘pretty good’’ on the sustainability front, Barnes said.
‘‘Your business just runs better. You make more money, customers are happier, communities are happier, staff are happier, so I just don’t get why you wouldn’t [be sustainable].’’
However, he believed the electricity industry should do more to decarbonise, reducing the carbon emissions it creates when generating power.
Whineray said decarbonisation was not a ‘‘big ticket item’’ that would ‘‘shift the dial’’ in New Zealand.
He wanted the Government to introduce a target to have 80 to 90 per cent of energy sources renewable by about 2050.
The Government’s goal to have all electricity resources 90 per cent renewable by 2025 was ‘‘already nailed’’, he said.
‘‘Electricity is solved, work on the broken arm.’’
Genesis Energy and Trustpower were contacted for comment but did not respond in time for publication.