Intel announced it will purchase more than 1.3 billion kilowatt hours a year of renewable energy certificates, making it the single-largest corporate purchaser of green power in the U.S., according to the US EPA. The company said it hoped the purchase would help stimulate the market for green power, which should lead to additional generating capacity and ultimately lower costs.
The purchase places Intel at the top spot on the EPA's Green Power Partners list, replacing PepsiCo, which has moved to the number two slot. Intel wasn't even on the top 25 of the list released last summer. Intel's REC purchase, which includes a portfolio of wind, solar, small hydro-electric and biomass sources, will be handled by Sterling Planet.
Other new additions to the list are the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at 18th, the city of Houston at 12th, and the city of Dallas at ninth. The four companies or government agencies that have moved off the list are Sprint Nextel, IBM, the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Mohawk Fine Papers.
Here’s the updated list as of January 2008:
1. Intel Corporation
2. PepsiCo
3. U.S. Air Force
4. Wells Fargo & Company
5. Whole Foods Market
6. The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc.
7. Johnson & Johnson
8. Cisco Systems, Inc.
9. City of Dallas, TX
10. HSBC North America
11. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
12. City of Houston, TX
13. Kohl's Department Stores
14. Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts
15. Starbucks
16. DuPont Company
17. U.S. Department of Energy
18. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
19. PepsiAmericas, Inc.
20. Vail Resorts, Inc.
21. New York University
22. NatureWorks LLC
23. Staples
24. The World Bank Group
25. University of Pennsylvania