Kohl's and Walmart Lead EPA's Green Power Rankings

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February 2, 2012

Retail chains dominate the EPA’s latest Green Power Rankings, occupying six of the top 10 overall buyers of green power in the U.S.

Of the top 20 retailers, Kohl’s maintains its top spot using 100 percent green power. Walmart ranks second on the retail list and third overall, up like a shot from the No. 15 place last quarter.

“As a result of significant work in 2011 to continue our commitment to renewable energy through on-site energy, such as solar and wind, and green power purchases, Walmart's California and Texas facilities secured a spot among the top three on numerous EPA Green Power Partnership lists,” said the retailer in a statement. Walmart ranked as the No. 2 purchaser of green power among retailers, No. 2 among on-site green power generators, No. 3 among the top 50 largest green power purchasers (up from NO. 15 on this list in October 2011) and No. 3 purchaser of green power among Fortune 500 companies.

Walmart's California and Texas facilities pushed it up in the rankings, purchasing more than 872 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually -- enough to meet 28 percent of the organization's electricity use. Walmart is generating green power from on-site renewable energy systems. In addition, the Walmart facilities are buying a combination of wind power purchases and green power products from Noble Americas Energy Solutions, NextEra Energy Resources, and Duke Energy.

"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," said Kim Saylors-Laster, Walmart vice president of energy.

And the retailer pledges to do better:

• Walmart plans to expand its solar portfolio to more than 130 rooftops, comprising 75 percent of its stores, throughout California by the end of 2013. The installations will provide 20 to 30 percent of each facility's total electric needs and when complete generate up to 70 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy per year - the equivalent of powering more than 5,400 homes.
• Walmart's purchases of wind energy in Texas provide up to 15 percent of the total energy for more than 360 of our Texas locations. The energy comes from Duke Energy wind farm in Notrees, Texas, and produces electricity at the rate of roughly 226 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) each year, which is equivalent of washing 108 million loads of laundry - enough for every household in Austin, Texas, to wash their clothes for a year.
• 
  • In Mexico, Walmart is buying energy from a local wind farm for 348 facilities and has installed solar panels on two facilities.
  • In Canada, Walmart is testing geothermal, fuel cells, solar and wind, and is the largest corporate purchaser of low-emission power through a local provider of clean, renewable energy.

"We've learned a great deal from our renewable energy programs in California, Hawaii, and Texas, and continue to explore opportunities to expand into additional states and globally," said Greg Pool, Walmart manager of renewable energy.

The Top 20 Retail list represents the largest purchasers among retail partners within the Green Power Partnership. The combined green power purchases of these organizations amounts to nearly 5 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 424,000 average American homes each year.

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 by partnering with EPA. Green power is electricity produced from a subset of renewable resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and low-impact hydro. Buying green power is one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve your organization’s environmental performance.

For the full list of To 20 retailers on the Green Power Rankings visit
http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/toplists/top20retail.htm#lists

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