A good ROI. kwc
Voluntary Green Power Purchasing up 1000 Percent in 5 Years
Large
Corporate Purchasers Driving Growth
Environmental News Network, October 27, 2005
AUSTIN, TX - Renewable energy capacity in the United
States supported by voluntary demand rather than regulatory requirements now
tops 2200 megawatts (MW) up more than 1,000 percent in just 5 years, according
to a new report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released at the Tenth
National Green Power Marketing Conference in Austin, Texas. The report also
notes that purchases by large businesses, institutions and governmental
entities are driving the growth of the U.S. voluntary green power market.
Green power currently accounts for about 2 percent of America’s electricity
supply, but voluntary purchasing of renewable energy is accelerating
development of new renewable energy sources. The report, from DOE’s National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), "Green
Power Marketing in the United States: A Status Report," shows
that renewable generating capacity in the United States installed to meet
voluntary green power purchasing soared from 167 MW in 2000 to more than 2,200
MW by the end of 2004. The report is available at http://www.eere.energy.gov/gr
eenpower/resources/pdfs/38994.pdf
While the number of
residential customers buying green power has more than doubled over the past 5
years, green energy purchases by large businesses and other U.S. organizations
have increased dramatically. This is further illustrated by new data released
today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Power
Partnership. The
Partnership, a voluntary program that encourages large organizations to switch
to green power for a specified minimum portion of their annual electric usage,
has grown from 21 Founding Partners in 2001 to over 600 Partners, including
Fortune 500 companies, universities, trade associations, and local, state, and
federal government agencies.
These Green Power Partners are collectively purchasing over 3.1 billion
kilowatt hours of green power annually, a figure which has doubled over the
past 15 months. This represents a growth of 1000 percent since the Partnership
began in 2001 with Founding Partners purchasing 3.1 million kilowatt hours
annually. Three billion kilowatt hours is enough electricity to power about
300,000 average American homes for a year, and is roughly equivalent to the
annual output of a 1000 megawatt wind farm.
Five years ago, the voluntary green power market was focused primarily on
residential purchasers, and there were only a handful of significant
non-residential purchasers, said Douglas L. Faulkner, acting assistant
secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of
Energy. The entry of commercial,
industrial, and government purchasers into the renewable energy market has
resulted in tremendous growth in the development of clean and limitless
renewable energy resources.
Leading retailers, universities, manufacturers and federal agencies are
demonstrating outstanding environmental leadership by choosing to purchase
clean, renewable energy sources for their electricity, said Kathleen Hogan,
director of EPA’s Climate Protection Partnerships Division.
The new report also notes that over the past 5 years, average renewable energy
price premiums for utility programs have declined at an annual average rate of
8 percent as wind-generated power becomes increasingly competitive against
natural gas-fueled generation. In Colorado and in Texas, escalating natural gas
prices have pushed electricity rates for regular utility customers higher than
rates being paid by customers subscribing to green power options.
Leading purchasers
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is the largest U.S. corporate purchaser of renewable
energy. The company has committed to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
7 percent below 1990 levels by 2010 in its quest to address the challenge of
climate change. To achieve this goal, Johnson & Johnson is investing in
green power as an alternative to fossil fuel energy. Johnson & Johnson's
green power use in 2004 equaled 18 percent of its worldwide electricity use.
Investing in green power not only benefits the environment, but is also a good
business decision for Johnson & Johnson because it provides the company
with a reliable and stable supply of energy, said Dennis Canavan, executive
director of worldwide energy management, Johnson & Johnson. We are on track
to reach our 2010 goal to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions seven percent
below 1990 levels. We hope to see other large corporations institute similar
environmental commitments.
Safeway, Inc.
Safeway purchased enough renewable energy certificates (RECs) for all of the
company’s U.S. fuel stations, its corporate and Northern California offices,
and all 15 of its grocery stores in San Francisco. The purchase of 78,000 MWh
of wind makes Safeway the first U.S. retailer to offset the electricity usage
of all its fueling stations. Additionally, Safeway’s purchase of RECs for the
company’s 15 San Francisco grocery stores makes Safeway San Francisco’s single
largest purchaser of green energy and the second largest corporate green
purchaser in the nation.
"Protecting the environment and conserving our nation's valuable energy
resources is something that Safeway and our customers care deeply about,"
said Larree Renda, executive vice president, Safeway. "By powering our
fuel stations, stores and corporate offices with wind energy, we are taking a
leadership role in using cleaner sources of electricity."
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
AMD is the largest corporate green power purchaser in Texas and the fifth
largest in the United States. AMD announced that it will tap renewable
resources to power 100 percent of its twelve offices and the new AMD Austin
Campus when it is completed in 2007. AMD’s utilization of renewable energy is
illustrative of why its electric provider, Austin Energy, has had the leading
utility-sponsored green power program in the nation in sales for the past three
years.
AMD was among the
first companies to participate in Austin Energy's Green Choice program and is
proud to rely exclusively on renewable energy for our Texas operations,"
said Craig Garcia, director of Global Corporate Resources, AMD. "Green
energy consumption not only safeguards our environment by reducing the use of
fossil fuels, but it's good for our business because it gives us a powerful
tool to help manage our energy costs. We applaud Austin Energy and EPA for
promoting green energy and we are hopeful that our continued collaboration will
help stimulate the adoption of clean energy."
Harvard University
Eight of Harvard University’s schools and departments are now purchasing
renewable energy collectively accounting for nearly 22,000 MWh annually or 7
percent of Harvard’s total electricity usage. In an effort to make Harvard the
nation's top university purchaser of renewable energy, Harvard President
Lawrence H. Summers announced a new, 3 year dedicated renewable energy fund of
$100,000 annually to promote the development of renewable energy on campus.
"Our support for renewable energy and green buildings affirms the
University's commitment to developing and maintaining a campus that is
beautiful, functional, and founded on sustainable principles," said
Lawrence H. Summers, Harvard University President.
Whole Foods
Natural and organic foods supermarket Whole Foods Market is purchasing or
generating more than 20 percent of its total national power load from green
power sources annually. In California, Colorado, and New Mexico, Whole Foods
Markets are 100 percent green-powered. Whole Foods Market also has solar panels
at five stores in California and New Jersey.
"Central to Whole Foods Market's core values is caring about our
communities and our environment, and this includes utilizing wise environmental
practices such as purchasing renewable energy, said Louis Karp, Whole Foods
Market green mission task force regional director. "We strive to be a
leader in environmental stewardship and plan to make green energy purchasing a
priority."
Hyatt
Regency Dallas & Hyatt Regency DFW
In June 2005, Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion and Hyatt Regency at Dallas-Fort
Worth International Airport announced the purchase of approximately 36,000 MWh
annually from Green Mountain Energy. This purchase places the two Hyatt hotels
among the Top 20 green power purchasers in the United States and the top five
in Texas. As the largest national purchase of green power by a hotel property,
this purchase represents a significant investment in renewable energy for an
industry reaching thousands of potential clean energy consumers and business
purchasers. Hyatt Regency Dallas is also the 10th largest U.S. corporate
purchaser of renewable energy.
"Our green power purchase makes a public statement about our
responsibility to be good community stewards, and it also sends a message to
our hotel guests that protecting the environment is important, said Steve
Vissotzky, Hyatt Regency Dallas general manager. Our purchase complements our
existing sustainable business practices. We hope major corporations in Dallas
and throughout the United States adopt more sustainable business practices such
as purchasing green power.
Hillwood
In August, Dallas-based Hillwood announced it was purchasing 100 percent
renewable energy from Green Mountain Energy for Hillwood’s business parks in
North Texas. The purchase encompasses more than a dozen developments, including
the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas project. Hillwood is one of the largest real estate
development companies in the country to be 100 percent green powered.
"Purchasing renewable electricity products from Green Mountain Energy
Company is another way for Hillwood to help improve the quality of our
environment, said Ross Perot Jr., chairman of Hillwood. With the open spaces,
parks, trails, wetlands management and tree programs that we incorporate into
our developments, Hillwood has a long history of taking care of the
environment."
U.S. Government
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program announced
that the federal government is now purchasing over 2.5 percent of its
electricity from renewable energy sources, reflecting successful achievement of
a goal first articulated in Executive Order 13123 back in 1999, making the
federal government the nation’s largest green power purchaser. The top three
federal purchasers are the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. EPA and the U.S. DOE. Additional details are available from
EPA’s list of the nation’s Top 25 green power purchasers at http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top2
5.htm
More
than 100 consumer products are now labeled with green power
The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) announced that 115 consumer products
are now "Made with Certified Renewable Energy" and labeled with the
Green-e logo to designate their environmental advantage. Products including
chips, juices, syrup, wine, fabrics, carpet, and paper products are being
manufactured using Green-e certified renewable energy and now feature that
information on their packaging. This represents a 65 percent increase over the
past year in the number of product manufacturers communicating renewable energy
commitments through on-packaging labeling featuring the nationally recognized
symbol for renewable energy excellence the Green-e logo.
"Renewable energy use is the next generation of distinction for consumer
products, taking its place alongside other consumer labels such as those for
recycled products, organic content, and energy efficiency," said Jan
Hamrin, president of the Center for Resource Solutions. "Product labeling
by major U.S. corporations and product manufacturers brings renewable energy to
the attention of millions of consumers."
About the National Green Power Marketing
Conference
The National Green Power Marketing Conference, which is organized annually by
DOE, EPA and the non-profit Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), reviews the
status of green power marketing and explores strategies to increase the
development of new renewable energy resources. Green power is electricity
generated from environmentally- preferable renewable energy sources such as
solar, wind, geothermal, biogas and low-impact hydro and biomass resources.
These renewable energy sources are cleaner than conventionally generated
electricity sources which rely on combustion of fossil fuel and create emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas
linked to global warming. Additional conference information is available at http://www.eere.energy.gov/green
power/conference/tenth.html
About
the U.S. DOE Green Power Network
The Green Power Network provides news and information on green power markets
and related activities. The Network’s Web site provides up-to-date information
on green power providers, product offerings, consumer protection issues, and
policies affecting green power markets. It also includes a reference library of
relevant papers, articles and reports. The Green Power Network is operated and
maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the U.S. Department
of Energy. Additional information is available at http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower
About
the U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership
The Green Power Partnership is an EPA voluntary program working to standardize
green power procurement as part of best practice environmental management.
Partners in the program pledge to switch to green power for a specified minimum
percentage of their electricity needs in return for EPA technical assistance
and recognition. The Green Power Partnership currently includes more than 600
Partners, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and
universities. Additional information about the Green Power Partnership,
including a full listing of all Partners and the Top 25 List, is available at www.epa.gov/greenpower
About
Green-e and the Center for Resource Solutions
The Green-e Renewable Energy Certification Program is the leading voluntary
certification and verification program that sets standards for renewable
electricity-based products in three markets for renewable energy: restructured,
regulated, and renewable energy certificates (RECs). Nationally, Green-e
certifies renewable energy products sold by over 100 marketers and utilities.
To learn more about certified renewable energy available throughout North
America, visit www.green-e.org or call 1-888-63-GREEN. Green-e is a
program of the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), a national nonprofit
working to build a robust renewable energy market by increasing demand and
supply of renewable resources. CRS administers a portfolio of national and
international programs in renewable energy. To learn more about CRS, visit http://www.resource-solutions.org
Source: CSRwire, Green Power Marketing Conference
http://enn.com/biz.html?id=1193
Related
Green Power Partnership http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/
