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Private Sector Tops Green Power List

Release Date: 01/29/2007
Contact Information: Roxanne Smith, (202) 564-4355 / [email protected]

(Washington, D.C. - Jan. 29, 2007) For the first time, a corporation leads EPA's national Top 25 list of green power purchasers. Wells Fargo & Company claimed the top spot, purchasing 550 million kilowatt hours annually. Organizations that purchase electricity generated from clean, renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro make up the quarterly list.

"These organizations are demonstrating that environmental stewardship and profitable business operations can go hand in hand," said Bill Wehrum, acting assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "Purchasing green power is good for the environment and supports our nation's efforts to increase the diversity in our energy supplies with alternative and renewable energy sources."

After Wells Fargo & Company, Whole Foods Market ranks second and the U.S. Air Force ranks third. The U.S. EPA ranks fourth, with Johnson & Johnson rounding out the top five. Newcomers to the list include Cisco Systems Inc., New York University, Carbonfund.org, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Kohl's Department Stores.

EPA's Top 25 green power purchasers are buying more than 4 billion kilowatt-hours of green power on an annual basis. This is equivalent to the energy needed to power more than 350,000 average American homes each year.

The EPA Green Power Partnership encourages organizations to purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with the use of electricity from fossil fuels and to diversify America's fuel supply. The partnership is comprised of a diverse set of organizations including Fortune 500 companies, small and medium businesses, government institutions as well as colleges and universities.

EPA's Top 25 Green Power Partners is as follows, listed in order of purchase size:

1. Wells Fargo & Company
2. Whole Foods Market
3. U.S. Air Force
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
5. Johnson & Johnson
6. Starbucks
7. DuPont Company
8. U.S. Department of Energy
9. Vail Resorts Inc.
10. HSBC North America
11. Cisco Systems Inc.
12. Staples
13. New York University
14. The World Bank Group
15. University of Pennsylvania
16. IBM Corporation
17. Carbonfund.org
18. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
19. NatureWorks LLC
20. Sprint Nextel
21. Safeway Inc.
22. Pennsylvania State University
23. Kohl's Department Stores
24. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
25. The Tower Companies

Information on EPA's top 25 list: epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top25.htm