AGL notches up another sustainability win 

08 December 2009

AGL Energy Ltd has won the Australasian Investor Relations Association award for Best Environmental, Social & Governance disclosure by an Australasian Company.
This award further solidifies AGL’s reputation as one of Australia’s leading businesses in relation to sustainability performance.

AGL Group Head of Corporate Affairs Paul Simshauser said, "We are delighted that the Association has recognised how seriously we take sustainability as it pertains to environmental, social and governance disclosure.

"As we demonstrated by holding our inaugural sustainability webcast recently, these are not peripheral issues for AGL. These are issues core to our business.

"We have positioned ourselves as Australia's leading integrated renewable energy company and we have long advocated the sort of investment certainty which can only come for business once the country has a carbon policy in place.

"AGL is committed to continuous disclosure so that our investors and potential investors have the knowledge that they need to make informed investment decisions. We understand that our sustainability performance is increasingly an important part of how we're judged by the investment community,” Mr Simshauser said.

Other key sustainability achievements include:

• AGL is the only Australian integrated energy company to have been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World)
• For the third year in a row, AGL has been included on the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI – Australia New Zealand).  AGL, which was ranked third globally among electric utilities was the only Australian utility to be named among the 38 Australian and New Zealand companies on the index
• AGL was winner of the Special Award for the Environment at the Ethical Investor Annunal Sustainability Awards in December 2008, acknowledging AGL’s strategic response to climate change and AGL’s disclosure record in relation to greenhouse gas emissions
• AGL is a constituent company in the FTSE4Good Index Series, which measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.

The award follows AGL's inaugural Sustainability Report webcast for analysts and media last month where AGL CEO Michael Fraser and AGL Head of Carbon and Sustainability Tim Nelson discussed highlights of the company's sustainability performance in 2009.

Highlights included:

• AGL is the largest privately owned renewable energy company in Australia. The company continues to build on its renewable generation capacity. Currently 78% of AGL’s generation capacity is low or zero emissions
• Increasing our employee engagement by 12%
• Contributing towards the winter energy bills for 171 crisis accommodation services, funding the equivalent of 83,000 warm winter nights
• Donation of $100,000 directly to the Victorian bushfire relief fund in addition to waiving more than $40,000 in energy costs to those directly impacted.

Further inquires:

Nathan Vass, Head of Media
Direct: + 61 2 9921 2264
Mobile: + 61 (0) 405 040 133
e-mail:  nvass@agl.com.au

Karen Winsbury, Senior Media Advisor
Direct: +61 3 8633 6388
Mobile: +61 (0) 408 465 479
e-mail:  kwinsbury@agl.com.au

About AGL
AGL is one of Australia's leading integrated energy companies and is taking action toward creating a sustainable energy future for our investors, communities and customers. Drawing on over 170 years of experience, AGL operates retail and merchant energy businesses, power generation assets and an upstream gas portfolio. AGL has Australia's largest retail energy and dual fuel customer base. AGL has a diverse power generation portfolio including base, peaking and intermediate generation plants, spread across traditional thermal generation as well as renewable sources including hydro, wind, landfill gas and biomass. AGL is Australia's largest private owner and operator of renewable energy assets and is looking to further expand this position by exploring a suite of low emission and renewable energy generation development opportunities.