San Francisco -- The factories around the globe that churn out semiconductors for Intel consume enormous amounts of power. But in the U.S., more than 85% of the electricity thatIntel will use this year comes from renewable sources like solar or wind, making it the largest corporate purchaser of green power in the country. Intel has held the number one rank for three years in a row.
"In 2011 we upped the ante and increased our use of green power by about 75%," says Marty Sedler, Intel ( INTC - news -people )'s director of global utilities and infrastructure. "We felt that the [renewable energy] market needed a jump start."
To help expand the market for renewable sources of power, the Environmental Protection Agency created a program a decade ago called the Green Power Partnership to coax corporations and government entities into buying green power –which the EPA defines as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and small-scale hydroelectric power. Roughly 4% of electricity generated in the U.S. comes from these sources.
"Even in the midst of what was a down economy last year, we continue to see organizations of all shapes and sizes making significant green power commitments," says Blaine Collison, director of the EPA's Green Power Partnership. "Intel went from 1.4 billion to 2.5 billion kilowatt hours. That's remarkable."
The economics of producing green power lead many corporations to skip the significant capital cost of activities like installing solar panels in favor of buying renewable energy credits, or RECs, which are created when renewable power is generated. For example, a North Dakota wind turbine operator can sell RECs to Staples ( SPLS - news - people ), No. 6 on the list, and then sell his wind power to the grid in North Dakota. Staples then buys electricity to power its stores from its local utilities.
Another alternative is to let a third party install and own the solar panels on a company's roof; the company then enters a long-term agreement to buy the solar power at rates that may be lower than what a utility charges for fossil-fuel generated electricity. Wal-Mart Stores ( WMT -news - people ), No. 9 on the list, has solar panels on the roofs of many of its stores in California and typically buys the solar power from a third party like SolarCity.
Other companies in the Green Power top 10 include Whole Foods Market ( WFMI - news - people ), Starbucks ( SBUX -news - people ), and Cisco Systems ( CSCO - news - people). Kohl's Department Stores ( KSS - news - people ), which ranked second behind Intel, gets 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, including from biomass, small-scale hydroelectric, solar and wind. For Kohl's, it makes sense from a business and environmental perspective, plus Kohl's wants to demonstrate its commitment to being a "leading environmentally responsible retailer," Ken Bonning, Kohl's executive vice president of store planning and logistics, says in an email. Kohl's buys RECs and has long-term power purchase agreements to buy the solar power generated from panels that are on upwards of 100 Kohl's stores.
Bonning acknowledges that it does cost more to buy green power, but says that such purchases are key to ensuring long-term resource sustainability. "On the operational level, green power initiatives such as our solar program provide long-term cost savings and increase the energy efficiency of our buildings," he adds.
For many of these companies, buying green power is one of several strategies they are taking to "go green." Intel's Sedler says the company's efforts to improve energy conservation, by switching lighting, adding controllers, and installing more efficient pumps and motors, helped it save a net $35 million thus far. Kohl's won an award this month as an Energy Star Partner of the Year for its energy efficient investments; 600 of Kohl's 1,019 department stores earned the Energy Star label, meaning they use 35% less energy and generate one-third less carbon dioxide than similar buildings.
"Companies are saying there is a larger value proposition here: reducing greenhouse gases and helping to drive a new U.S. green economy," says the EPA's Collison. "They are saying 'We want to be part of it.'"
Gallery: America's Top 10 Greenest Companies 2011
http://www.forbes.com/2011/04/18/americas-greenest-companies.html
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