by Brianna Crandall — April 25, 2012—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on April 23 an updated list of its National Top 50 Green Power Partnership organizations voluntarily using clean, renewable electricity from resources such as solar, wind, and low-impact hydropower. Intel Corporation tops the list as the largest single user of green power, followed by Kohl’s Department Stores and Microsoft Corporation. Combined, the Top 50 partners are using more than 15 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually. Through their use of green power, these top organizations are avoiding carbon pollution equal to that created by the electricity use of more than 1.3 million American homes each year, figures the EPA.
EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with more than 1,300 partner organizations, over half of which are small businesses and nonprofit organizations, to voluntarily use green power. According to the EPA, green power resources produce electricity with an environmental profile superior to conventional power technologies, and produce significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
Intel has ranked number one on the list since 2008 and uses more than 2.5 billion kWh annually, or 88 percent of the company’s nationwide electricity use. Microsoft, which holds the number three spot, and McDonald’s USA, which ranks eleventh, are new to the list.
The current top 15 of the National Top 50 Green Power Partnership organizations are:
- Intel Corporation
- Kohl’s Department Stores
- Microsoft Corporation
- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. / California and Texas Facilities
- Whole Foods Market
- Staples
- City of Houston, TX
- Starbucks
- City of Austin, TX
- Hilton Worldwide
- McDonald’s USA LLC
- HSBC North America
- U.S. Department of Energy
- City of Dallas, TX
- Lockheed Martin Corporation
The Green Power Partnership also updated the rankings of the 100 Percent Green Power Users list, which highlights close to 700 partners using green power for their entire electricity load, as well as its lists for Top 20 Retail, Fortune 500 Partners, Top 10 Federal Government, Top 20 Local Government, Top 20 College & University, Top 20 Printing & Packaging, Top 20 On-site Generation, and Top 20 K-12 Schools.
Kohl’s ranks number one on both the Top 20 Retailers and 100 Percent Green Power Users lists while Intel Corporation tops the Fortune 500 Partners list, and the U.S. Department of Energy is at the top of the Top 10 Federal Government list while the City of Houston ranks number one on the Top 20 Local Governments list. The University of Pennsylvania sits atop the Top 20 College & University list, Deluxe Corporation leads the Top 20 Printing & Packaging list, Kimberly-Clark Corporation tops the Top 20 On-site Generation, and Chicago Public Schools rank number one on the Top 20 K-12 Schools list.
See also “Pac-12 conference, University of Pennsylvania top EPA’s college and university green power challenge lists” on FMLink.
