Albertsons Activates Free Solar Panels on Three Stores

SUPERMARKET NEWS STAFF

MINNEAPOLIS — Albertsons, a division of Supervalu here, and SunEdison on Tuesday announced the activation of rooftop solar power systems at three Albertsons grocery stores in Carlsbad, Oceanside and Alpine, Calif. The solar installations were constructed by REC Solar.

SunEdison financed the solar power plants and will monitor and maintain the systems that will produce more than 12 million kilowatt hours of energy over the next 20 years. The environmental attributes associated with the systems will offset more than 13 million pounds of carbon dioxide over the initial 20 years of operation, SunEdison said.

"We are delighted to align with SunEdison for the activation of these solar sites that required no up-front capital costs for Albertsons," said Rick Crandall, director of environmental stewardship for Albertsons’ Southern California Division. "The sites will allow us to continue making progress on our cost-saving measures and to support the use of clean energy as an alternative to the grid."

Under the Solar Power Purchase Agreement with SunEdison, Supervalu will purchase the energy produced to offset its demand from the grid for 20 years. Supervalu and SunEdison are investigating future deployment opportunities in other regions of the U.S.