ARLINGTON, Va. — The Retail Industry Leaders Association pointed out that three RILA members that are food retailers — Whole Foods Market, Wal-Mart Stores and Safeway — were named by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as being among the top 50 users of green power in the EPA’s Green Power Partnership program.
These are companies in the partnership — a voluntary program that supports the procurement of green power — who are using the most renewable electricity to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Whole Foods, third on the list, used 817.7 million kilowatt-hours of green energy (solar and wind) on an annualized contract basis, covering 100% of its total electricity use. Wal-Mart, 12th on the list, used 263.5 million kilowatt-hours of green energy (biogas, solar and wind), encompassing 8% of its electricity usage. Safeway, 42nd on the list, employed 97.4 million kilowatt-hours of green energy (solar and wind), covering 3% of its electricity use.
Among the top 20 retail users of green energy were Whole Foods (2nd), Wal-Mart (5th), Safeway (8th), H.E. Butt Grocery (10th) and Giant Eagle (13th). H-E-B uses 63 million kilowatt-hours of green energy (biogas and wind), which covers 5% of its electricity use; Giant Eagle uses 20 million kilowatt-hours of green energy (wind), which accounts for 3% of its energy use.
“Purchasing green power is yet another way that retailers continue to reduce their carbon footprint while building robust businesses for the future.” said Adam Siegel, RILA’s vice president of sustainability and retail operations, in a statement.