By Lilia Guan
About 30,000 Brisbane residents have signed up to an energy reduction program, only eight weeks into its launch date.
Councillor Peter Matic, chairman of Environment, Parks and Sustainability at Brisbane City Council said the number far exceeded the expected take-up of the program.
“To put this in perspective, the program was forecasted to sign-up 50,000 residents within the first 12 months,” he said.
Brisbane City Council, the Queensland Government and local corporate partners; AGL; Ingenero, NAB, Crest, The Good Guys and Nope Electric Bikes and Scooters bandied together to form EzyGreen.
Launched in July this year, the program offers residents a range of energy saving options, as well as sustainable energy options such as GreenPower and discounted solar hot water and power systems.
Mr Matic said EzyGreen was designed to take the hassle out of reducing energy use at home and overcome the challenges to consumer action, including inconvenience and upfront costs.
“It bundles existing Council, State and Federal Government energy reduction initiatives into one easy-to-use program,” he said.
Mr Matic said the initiative was free to sign-up and residents have the option to receive a free energy-saving Crest powerboard (valued at $180), access 20 per cent GreenPower at no extra cost and also take advantage of significant discounts on solar hot water and solar power systems.
“It’s easy to access, with only one click of the mouse or telephone call, residents can easily access options to help them save energy and money off their power bills.”
Mr Matic said to spread the word about the program, Brisbane City Council provided access to marketing channels including buses, bus shelters, Council newsletters, the Council website and other communications to launch and promote EzyGreen.
“Council’s sustainability agency, CitySmart, developed media partnerships with Channel 10, Nova 106.9FM, Quest Community Newspapers and ourbrisbane.com to leverage the advertising spend and develop interest in EzyGreen,” he said.
Since the initial interest in the program, an ongoing stream of sign-ups has continued and is expected to continue.
“EzyGreen will continue to offer residents a great range of energy-saving initiatives and alternative energy options until 2012,” Mr Matic said.
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