Each year the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) puts together a list of the top 100 companies that partner up with their program Green Power Partnership. They estimated in 2014 a total of 24 billion kilowatt-hours from all of their partners combined.
For this list, we looked at the specific companies on the list that are “100% Green Power Users” whose reduction of carbon emissions is equivalent to the electricity use of 1.1 million American households alone.
So let’s take a closer look at these top ten companies taking advantage of completely renewable energy resources.
Intel Corporation
Intel links its passion for the environment and sustainable energy back to its founder Gordon Moore. They set a standard to reduce energy consumption by 4% per unit every year and constantly meet this by creating new conservation projects that they implement worldwide throughout facilities.
Fact Check
- Resources: Biogas, Biomass, Small-hydro, Solar, wind
- Providers: Sterling Planet, PNM, On-site Generation
- % of Green Power: 100%
Kohl’s Department Store
Kohl’s pledges to use renewable energy in an attempt to counteract their traditional energy use across the nation. As the EPA only reports solar energy, Kohl’s claims to start using wind turbines in 2011 in Texas and Ohio as testing sites.
Fact Check
- Resources: Solar
- Providers: Nexant, Sterling Planet, Renewable Choice Energy, 3Degrees, On-site Generation
- % of Green Power: 105%
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods has a “green mission” and claims to be the first large retailer to use 100% of their energy with wind credits, which we can now see has also moved onto using solar energy credits through the government as well.
Fact Check
- Resources: Solar, Wind
- Providers: 3Degrees, On-site Generation
- % of Green Power: 107%
Staples
Not only does Staples have over 100% green power but they have a sustainable paper procurement policy and support responsible management of forests. The company has joined up with Energy Star to create more energy-efficient buildings nationally.
Fact Check
- Resources: Biogas, Solar, Wind
- Providers: Renewable Energy, 3Degrees, Sterling Planet, Avista Utilities, Pacific Power, Tennessee Valley Authority, Portland General Electric, On-site Generation, Florida Power and Light
- % of Green Power: 106%
District of Columbia
DC has created an EnergySmartDC Solar Initiative where they provide online resources and programs that promote green energy throughout the district. GreenUp DC is another resource they use to help contractors and property owners build with green projects in mind.
Fact Check
- Resources: Wind
- Providers: Washington Gas Energy Services
- % of Green Power: 100%
Unilever (Boycott)
Unilever sells everyday life brands all over the world such as Axe, Lipton, and Wall’s. They aim to find more sustainable resources like biofuels and to reduce the greenhouse emissions each of their brands puts out.
Fact Check
- Resources: Biomass, Wind
- Providers: Renewable Choice Energy, 3 degrees
- % of Green Power: 100%
City of Austin, TX
The city of Austin pairs up with Austin Energy to create a program called GreenChoice that provides options for residents and business owners to implement renewable energy throughout the city. By using Texas wind they can use products that are Green-e Energy-certified and environmental protection standards.
Fact Check
- Resources: Wind
- Providers: Austin Energy
- % of Green Power: 100%
TD Bank, N.A.
“Be as green as our logo” is the new slogan for renewable energy over at TD Bank who created the first net-zero energy bank in the US through solar panel installation. They are now the largest bank to be carbon neutral and works towards Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard approval.
Fact Check
- Resources: Wind
- Providers: Renewable Choice Energy
- % of Green Power: 100%
US Environmental Protection Agency
It would make sense that they are in our top ten as they engage in over 100% of their green power sustainability they lead by example in implementing all four of the common renewable energy categories as they report on the rest of the nation’s resources.
Fact Check
- Resources: Biogas, Biomass, Wind, Solar
- Providers: Element Markets, 3Degrees, Orion Renewables Energy Trading Group, LLC, Pacific Power, On-site Generation, Minnesota Power
- % of Green Power: 107%
Deutsche Post DHL- AG
As a logistics company that has half a million employees, Deutsche Post works towards putting global climate and reducing carbon emissions on the top of their list. In using the Green Trends Survey this international company is gearing towards more sustainable energy than ever before.
Fact Check
- Resources: Wind
- Providers: Just Energy
- % of Green Power: 100%
We give these companies a big “thumbs up” as they continue to improve our global environment with renewable energy. These top ten lead the way in a growing industry that not just Fortune 500 companies, but any business should take advantage of.
