Sunday 10 January 2010

ACCC has win on green certificates

Summaries - Australian Financial Review
Thursday 7/1/2010 Page: 7

A court has ruled that environmental group Green Global Plan, who counts Elisabeth Murdoch as patron, will have to purchase more than 4000 renewable energy certificates, which it failed to buy for customers between 2007 and 2008. The organisation retailed green power through its program GreenSwitch, letting customers to purchase power from green energy sources to offset carbon emissions.

GreenSwitch did use all the money it accepted to purchase renewable energy certificates, and two after the programs was deregistered it continued to accept money. Green Global Plans has admitted it breached the Trade Practices Act, acting chairman, Michael Schaper from Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said the breach was 'simply unacceptable.' The court has also direct the company directors Donald and Henry Hewett to write to GreenSwitch customers explaining the breach.

The ACCC announced on Tuesday that its had taken legal action against carbon trader Prime Carbon in the Federal Court for making misleading representations about the National Environment Registry and the National Stock Exchange of Australia. The regulator last year took GM Holden to court over its ads for Saab cars which claimed that the company had planted enough trees to offset greenhouse emissions for the life of the car.

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