New England Fortune 500 Companies Recognized for Green Power Purchases

Three major companies based in New England—Staples, Inc., State Street Corporation and Pitney Bowes—were among 53 Fortune 500 organizations recently recognized by EPA for taking voluntary steps to purchase and use green power.

EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program helping to increase the use of green power among U.S. organizations. There are currently hundreds of partners utilizing green power to reduce the environmental impacts from conventional electricity generation, including Fortune 500 companies, local, state and federal governments, trade associations as well as colleges and universities. Each of the award winners are EPA Green Power Partners who must meet or exceed EPA purchase requirements for green power.

“Integrating environmental leadership into the corporate world is one of the important steps in addressing environmental problems, including climate change,” said Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “When large companies make the move to use green power, it demonstrates that alternative power sources are viable.”

Staples, of Framingham, MA has committed to a 7% reduction in its U.S. carbon emissions by 2010 on an absolute basis, starting from a base year of 2001. Staples currently purchases 121,800 KWh of green power, which is 20% of its estimated electricity usage. The majority of Staples’ green power consists of renewable energy certificates (RECs), but the company also purchases direct renewable power and has on-site roof-top solar installations producing more than 3,000 KWh of clean electricity every year on various facilities nationwide. For its solar installations, Staples was one of the first corporations to take advantage of the solar services contract model. Staples does not own or pay any upfront charges for the solar systems, but instead agrees to a long-term purchase of the electricity generated at a rate less than or equal to existing electricity rates. This model has allowed Staples to reduce its electricity costs and hedge against future price increases. In addition to purchasing green power, Staples’ broad commitment to the environment includes making it easy for customers to make a difference for the environment—what it calls EcoEasy. Staples provides customers with thousands of eco-friendly products and everyday in-store technology recycling at all of its 1,400 plus U.S. stores as well as environmental education and reporting tools.

“Staples is committed to renewable power investment as a key part of our carbon reduction strategy,” said Mark Buckley, vice president of environmental affairs at Staples. “We’re proud to be an EPA Green Power Partner, and as a company, we’ll continue to explore new ways we can use renewable power to achieve both environmental and business benefits.”

State Street Corporation of Boston, Massachusetts provides institutional investors with investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading services. State Street works to fulfill its role as a good corporate citizen through its Corporate Sustainability Program. As part of the program, State Street has committed to purchasing Green-e certified renewable power for 20 percent of its total electricity usage in Massachusetts. State Street’s green power purchase has helped establish the corporation as a leader among U.S. financial services companies, and demonstrates its commitment to sustainability to all of its stakeholders around the world.

“State Street’s placement on the EPA’s Green Power Partners list is the result of several years’ dedication to improving our environmental performance,” said George Russell, executive vice president and overseer of State Street’s environmental policy. "We are proud to be in the
company of some of the country’s most sustainable companies and look forward to a continued partnership with the EPA"

Pitney Bowes of Stamford, Connecticut considers the purchase of renewable energy credits a key component of their energy management portfolio, which includes the initiation of key energy conservation projects and other initiatives to reduce their overall carbon footprint. Pitney Bowes’ purchase of renewable energy credits is equivalent to nearly 3% of its electricity consumed annually by the company’s US based offices and facilities.

“Pitney Bowes is pleased to be listed as one of 53 companies on the EPA’s national Fortune 500 Green Power Challenge list,” said John Thaler, Director, Environment, Health and Safety Process Excellence, Pitney Bowes Inc. “Pitney Bowes’ multidisciplinary energy task force consistently seeks new opportunities to incorporate clean technology into the company’s business processes—from facility management to renewable energy credits— to minimize energy use and costs. We have been purchasing renewable energy credits since 2003, and are committed to reducing our carbon footprint, and the carbon footprint of our customers through several company-wide environmental initiatives"

EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with more than 850 partner organizations to buy green power voluntarily as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use and to support the development of new, renewable generation resources nationwide. Overall, EPA Green Power Partners are buying more than 13 billion kWh of green power annually.

Green power is generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and biogas, as well as low-impact hydropower. Green power resources produce electricity with an environmental profile superior to conventional power technologies and produce no net increase to greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information on green power: http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.