As a residential customer, if buying from an Australian owned company is important to you, here are some things to consider in your decision.
- Not all retailers, distributors or electricity generators are Australian owned. In fact, many are wholly or partly foreign owned.
- In some sectors of the energy market, you can choose the company you want to provide you with service, for example your energy retailer. You have a choice to support Australian owned retailers, if that’s important to you. For other service areas, such as how energy is delivered to your home, (the distribution network), you have no choice, because your location dictates who your distribution network company will be.
- What if your retailer is not Australian owned? What does that actually mean? Does it mean profits made in Australia are funnelled offshore? Or is there reinvestment for the future here in Australia? The answer will lie somewhere between the two, as many of the large retailers are reinvesting in new services for customers.
- Energy generation assets can be wholly or partly Australian owned (such as Hydro Tasmania and Snowy Hydro), or 100% foreign owned.
It comes down to what’s important to you
Ultimately, it’s about what is important to you; who owns the company, or how the energy is produced? Is it more important to you that the generation company is Australian owned, or that the energy is from a renewable or sustainable source, such as hydro or wind power? For a couple of good resources to check on how green is your retailer , try GreenPower which is a government-managed program that makes sure the GreenPower that individuals and businesses buy from GreenPower Providers supports greater renewable energy generation in Australia. Another one is The Green Electricity Guide by Greenpeace, which independently ranks the environmental performance of energy retailers in Australia (and by State).
Ownership of Energy Retailers in Australia:
If Australian owned is important to you, or if you’d just like to understand the make-up of investors in the sector, then the table below will help.
| Retailer | Ownership | Country of ownership |
| 1st Energy | ERM Power own a 30% stake in 1st Energy. ERM became Shell Energy on 17 February 2021. | Part Australian owned |
| AGL Energy | ASX listed company | Partly Australian owned – some foreign investors |
| Alinta Energy | Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (since 2017) | Foreign owned (HK) |
| Amber Electric | Australian investors | Australian owned |
| CovaU | Wholly owned subsidiary of TPC Consolidated Limited (formerly Tel.Pacific Limited) | Australian owned |
| Diamond Energy | 80% Australian owned. Supported by investment from Hanwha (Korean energy co.) | Part Australian owned |
| Discover Energy Pty Ltd | Australian investors | Australian owned |
| Dodo Power & Gas | Subsidiary of Vocus Group (Aus & NZ) | Part Australian owned |
| Electricity In a Box | Australian Private Company. | Australian owned |
| Elysian Energy | Australian investors | Australian owned |
| Energy Locals | Australian investors | Australian owned |
| Energy Australia | CLP Group (China Light and Power) | Foreign owned (China) |
| GloBird | Australian investors | Australian owned |
| Kogan Energy | Part of Kogan Australia (ASX listed). Kogan Energy is provided by Powershop Australia Pty Ltd | Part Australian owned |
| Lumo Energy | Snowy Hydro | Australian owned |
| Momentum | Hydro Tasmania | Australian owned |
| OVO Energy | OVO Group Ltd. British-owned & privately backed | Foreign owned (UK) |
| Origin Energy | ASX listed company | Partly Australian owned – some foreign investors |
| People Energy | HQ in Euroa, Vic. | Australian owned |
| Powerclub | Claims to be member-owned, i.e., Australian | Australian owned |
| PowerDirect Pty Ltd | Owned by AGL since 2007 (thus also part of their ASX listing) | Partly Australian owned – some foreign investors |
| Powershop Australia | Shell Energy Operations (British-owned and publicly listed) | Foreign owned (UK) |
| QEnergy Ltd | Brisbane based Australian owned company | Australian owned |
| ReAmped Energy Pty Ltd | Australian, UK & NZ investors | Partly Australian owned – some foreign investors (UK & NZ) |
| Red Energy | One of the retail subsidiaries of Snowy Hydro | Australian owned |
| Simply Energy | Engie SA (multinational company, HQ in France) | Foreign owned (France) |
| Sumo Energy | Australian investors | Australian owned |
| Tango Energy | Previously Pacific Hydro, it was acquired in 2016 by China’s State Power Investment Corporation. | Foreign owned (China) |
Ownership of Distributors (also called Network Distributors) in Victoria:
When it comes to electricity distribution, you have no choice – this is determined by where you live. None of the distributors in Victoria are 100% Australian owned: they are all partly or wholly foreign owned. Powercor and CitiPower have some Australian ownership and are traded on the ASX. AusNet Services is also traded on the Australian Stock Exchange.
So even if you do choose an Aussie retailer, your power will reach your home on a wholly or partly foreign-owned distribution network.
| Distributor | Ownership | Geographic area |
| United Energy | A CK Infrastructure-led consortium owns 66% of United Energy with the balance owned by SGSP (Australia) Assets Pty Ltd. CK Infrastructure Holdings (or CKI), is the largest publicly listed infrastructure company in Hong Kong. | Covers Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs and the Mornington Peninsula. |
| Jemena | SGSP (Australia) Assets Pty Ltd, trading as Jemena, is a foreign owned private company with assets in the Australian energy sector. SGSP (Australia) Assets Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of China-based utility company, State Grid Corporation of China. | Covers northwest greater Melbourne. |
| Powercor | CitiPower and Powercor are privately-owned businesses with three owners, each of which is privately owned and stock exchange-listed. 23.07% owned by CK Infrastructure (publicly listed in Hong Kong) 27.93% owned by Power Assets Holdings (also listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange) and 49% owned by Spark Infrastructure (ASX listed). | Covers Victoria’s largest electricity distribution network, in central and western Victoria, as well as Melbourne’s western suburbs. |
| CitiPower | See above (as per Powercor) | Covers Melbourne’s CBD and inner suburbs |
| AusNet Services | Ausnet Services is 32.3% owned by Singapore Power, 19.9% owned by State Grid of China and around 48% publicly owned. They are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). | Covers eastern Victoria and eastern/north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne |
And finally…
You don’t necessarily need to pay more for your electricity if you want to support an Aussie owned retailer – Joulius helps you identify the best deals available to you in your area. The choice of plan is always yours.
Remember that energy deals change frequently, and what is a competitively priced deal today, may not be next month. That’s where Joulius can help by checking the market regularly and alerting you when we find a better deal. So at least you can make an informed choice of retailer, whether its their green credentials, who owns them or their pricing – or a combination of all those factors! And finally, if you are choosing a GreenPower option, make sure you know what percentage of your power will be from renewable sources (many retailers offer options between 10 and 100%), and make sure your retailer is accredited.
