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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a green power partnership program that promotes green energy solutions and highlights leading organizations. Green power purchases “help reduce the environmental impacts of electricity use and support the development of new renewable generation capacity nationwide. The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that supports the organizational procurement of green power by offering expert advice, technical support, tools and resources. Partnering with EPA can help [an] organization lower the transaction costs of buying green power, reduce its carbon footprint, and communicate its leadership to key stakeholders. Green power is electricity produced from a subset of renewable resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and low-impact hydro.”

The following Top 10 EPA Green Power Partner rankings showcases the annual green power purchases of leading organizations across the United States:

1. Intel Corporation – 88% green power
2. Kohl’s Department Stores – 100% green power
3. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. / California and Texas Facilities – 28% green power
4. Whole Foods Market – 106% green power
5. Johnson & Johnson – 52% green power
6. City of Houston, TX – 35% green power
7. Starbucks – 52% green power
8. City of Austin, TX – 100% green power
9. Staples – 52% green power
10. Hilton Worldwide – 94% green power

The percentage reflects the amount of green power out of total electricity consumption, so larger operations will have a higher overall impact.  These rankings from the EPA are published quarterly and you can review the complete list of statistics which includes the top 50 green power purchasers on the EPA website. Leaders Intel and Kohl’s favour solar and wind green power resources through suppliers like 3Degrees°, Nexant, and Sterling Planet. Whole Foods Market actually exceeds 100 percent because their green power purchases exceed their electricity consumption.

Walmart has taken a huge leap from 15th place to 3rd as a result of improving overall power generated from renewable energy resources from 8 percent (in October 2011) to 28 percent (in January 2012).  In a press release, Kim Saylors-Laster, Walmart vice president of energy said “investing in renewable energy spurs innovation, provides jobs, helps protect the environment and reduces costs. The green power achievements of our facilities in California and Texas support our long-term goal of being supplied by 100 percent renewable energy, and we will use our success in these regions as a model to expand our commitment to renewable energy throughout our operations.”  Blaine Collison, Director of EPA’s Green Power Partnership responded: “Walmart is demonstrating their commitment to reducing their environmental impacts by greatly increasing their purchase of renewable energy. With these purchases, Walmart is helping to grow the nation’s green power market and showing what a difference businesses can make in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” Imagine the impact if Walmart followed through with green power purchases nationally.

I hope this inspires a lot of competition for the top spot, since the true winner over the long-term is the environment and a sustainable future for the planet.  Go green power!
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