North American corporations have signed agreements to purchase power totaling more than 5.6 GW from renewable sources since 2013, according to RMI’s Business Renewables Center, unlocking approximately $10 billion of clean energy investments. These investments are growing rapidly: from 0.69 GW by six companies in 2013 to 3.24 GW in 2015, or 132 percent year-over-year growth since 2013. In all, 69 companies have committed to procure 100 percent of their electricity from renewables, and about 43 percent of Fortune 500 companies have sustainability goals. From long-established manufacturing companies like 3M to upcoming technology companies like Akamai—corporate CFOs are starting to see the benefits of renewables.
The lion’s share of corporate renewables is bought through virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs), in which renewable electricity is contracted and then sold into wholesale power markets. Corporations can also choose to install on-site solar, which is typically net-metered to their utility bill, allowing them to sell excess production back to the grid. A third option is to buy renewable electricity from a utility through a green tariff, as Switch agreed to do with Nevada Energy in July 2015. These options differ in size, price, and risk structure. Some corporations—like Google and Apple—pursue a combination of different contract structures, sizes, and locations to suit their business needs and sustainability goals.
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