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New England Companies Named To EPA’s Green Power Top 25 List For Renewable Energy Purchases

Release Date: 02/13/2006
Contact Information: Sheryl Rosner - 617-918-1865

(Boston) – Five companies based in New England or with significant business operations in New England were named to EPA’s 2006 "Green Power Top 25" list. The list includes companies, organizations and government institutions that have voluntarily bought the most renewable energy and are part of EPA’s Green Power Partnership.

Last year, EPA’s Green Power Partners bought more than 4 million megawatt hours of renewable energy, which is nearly double the amount they purchased by the end of 2004. These purchasers are buying enough energy to power more than 300,000 homes a year, or the equivalent of removing the emissions of nearly 400,000 cars from the road annually. More than half of EPA’s Top 25 green power purchasers are comprised of U.S. corporations, a number that continues to increase every year.

Businesses on the list that have major presences in New England included: Staples; Whole Foods Market; Starbucks; Johnson & Johnson, and Fedex Kinkos, Inc.

"These EPA partners help diversify this country’s energy supply by promoting alternative and renewable energy sources," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “These companies voluntarily use green power - helping reduce dependence on foreign sources of power."

The U.S. Air Force led the green power Top 25 list, buying more than 1 million megawatt hours a year for bases across the country. Whole Foods Market surpassed both Safeway, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson to lead all corporate purchasers after increasing their purchase to more than 450 thousand MWh a year of renewable energy. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy follow the U.S. Air Force in purchase size for government institutions.

Green power is electricity generated from environmentally-preferable renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, and low-impact biomass and hydro resources. Green power accounts for nearly two percent of America's electricity supply, but voluntary purchasing of renewable energy by leading organizations is helping to accelerate renewable energy development.

The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary EPA program that seeks to increase the use of green power among leading U.S. organizations. Partners in the program switch to green power for a portion of their electricity needs in return for EPA technical assistance and recognition. EPA’s Green Power Partnership currently has more than 600 Partners, including Fortune 500 companies, states, federal agencies, trade associations and universities.

For more information on green power: https://www.epa.gov/greenpower.

For more information on EPA's Top 25 list: https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top25.htmhttp://www.epa.govmailto:[email protected]

For more information on energy and New England’s environment: https://www.epa.gov/ne/eco/energy/index.html

Following is a brief description of what businesses in New England accomplished:

• Staples , a Framingham, Mass. company, exceeded its original commitment to buy 2 percent of its total energy load or 9,494 MWh green power. The company uses 48,283 MWh of green power, which includes the largest renewable energy certificate deal in the United States. The company is committed to buying 10 percent of its energy from green power sources. With stores nationwide, Staples buys landfill gas, biomass, solar, and wind power from five providers that supply the company with green power through delivered energy products as well as renewable energy certificates. Two of Staple’s distribution centers in California are in the process of being powered by on-site solar photovoltaic installations. These innovative installations will be based on their supplier’s solar hosting model, whereby Staples buys solar services at a fixed price schedule, but they are not required to provide the capital costs up front for the solar system.

• Whole Foods Market of Austin, Texas, is dedicated to its mission: “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet” in a way that is reflected in its care and concern for the environment. The nation's leading natural and organic supermarket, Whole Foods has an ongoing commitment to green power and has made green power purchasing a company-wide practice. Whole Foods Market buys or generates 100 percent of its total national power load from green power sources. Whole Foods received the EPA Green Power Leadership Award in 2004 and 2005.

• Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, NJ, a Green Power Partner of the Year in 2003 and a Green Power Leadership Award winner in 2002 and 2004, is committed to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2010 as part of its quest to address climate change. To achieve this goal, Johnson & Johnson is investing in green power as an alternative to fossil fuel energy. Its green power use in 2004 equaled 18 percent of its worldwide electricity use and included the direct purchases of low-impact hydro and wind power, on-site solar PV, and the purchase of renewable energy certificates from wind power and biomass facilities. Johnson & Johnson believes investment in green power not only benefits the environment, but is also a good business decision because it provides the company with a reliable and stable supply of energy. The extraordinary size of the company's green power purchase, along with its willingness to share its experiences, has made Johnson & Johnson a leader in green power procurement.

• Starbucks, of Seattle, Wash., set out to understand more about the risks associated with climate change and to evaluate its contribution to global warming. In so, Starbucks joined EPA’s Green Power Partnership and promised to buy enough green power to cover 5 percent of its retail energy needs in North America, cutting CO2 emissions by 2 percent. Expanding on the success of its commitment in 2005, Starbucks has increased its green power commitment to 20 percent in 2006. The environmental measures that Starbucks is taking to address climate change, are outlined in Starbucks fiscal 2004 Corporate Social Responsibility Annual Report.


• FedEx Kinko’s, Inc., of Dallas, Texas was a 2002 Green Power Partner of the Year and has been a 2001 and 2003 Green Power Leadership Award winner. FedEx Kinko's is reducing its environmental footprint through efforts that include buying renewable energy, reducing energy use, offering recycled and alternative papers, and minimizing waste. FedEx Kinko's, Inc. buys renewable energy at more than 400 branches in 18 states, for an approximate 40 million kWh per year. FedEx Kinko's, Inc. receives its power from a wide variety of sources, including wind, geothermal, landfill gas, solar, and small hydro.

The complete list of EPA’s Top 25 Green Power Partners is as follows, listed in order of purchase size:

1. U.S. Air Force
2. Whole Foods Market
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
4. Johnson & Johnson
5. U.S Department of Energy
6. Starbucks
7. The World Bank
8. Safeway, Inc.
9. U.S. General Services Administration (Region 2)
10. HSBC North America
11. City of San Diego, Calif.
12. New Jersey Consolidated Energy Savings Program
13. Advanced Micro Devices/Austin, Texas Facilities
14. WhiteWave Foods
15. Staples
16. Austin (Texas) Independent School District
17. Mohawk Fine Papers, Inc.
18. The Tower Companies
19. FedEx Kinko's
20. U.S. Army/Fort Carson
21. University of Pennsylvania
22. Montgomery County, Md.
23. Hyatt Regency/Reunion & DFW Airport Hotels
24. Western Washington University
25. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania