Tag Archives: green tariffs

Company plans to build 15 utility-scale storage plants in Texas

By Peter Maloney, American Public Power Association

Independent power producer Broad Reach Power plans to build 15 utility-scale battery storage plants totaling 150 megawatts (MW) in areas near Houston and Odessa, Texas. The Houston-based company is building the storage plants on a merchant basis “on our balance sheet” and aims to sell the output into the wholesale power market run by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Steve Vavrik, managing partner and CEO, said.

Texas leads the nation in wind power with over 29,000 MW of installed wind turbines. Solar power is also gaining ground in Texas with ERCOT reporting 1,500 MW of installed utility scale solar projects and 4,300 MW of solar projects, out of 40,000 MW under study, that have already signed interconnection agreements and could be in service by year end. Read more here.

AWEA Free Use Wind Energy Image Gallery: Suzion Wind Farm in Texas

NEWS FROM OTHER STATES

Michigan: Plans progress for solar farm in northeastern Montcalm County, Greenville Daily News. Ranger Power, a utility-scale solar developer based in Brooklyn, New York, remains in the development phase of the “Freshwater Solar” project — 1,200 acres (1.875 square miles) of farmland shared between Day and Ferris townships. The solar farm is anticipated to generate approximately 200 megawatts of energy with an investment of $200 million and is expected to create 300 construction jobs in the Montcalm County area.
In Nebraska – Previously Posted: Ranger Power looks for buyer after getting solar energy site approved, KOLN. Ranger Power will search for a buyer of its 230 million dollar solar site in eastern Lincoln.
Michigan green tariff expansion could define future of renewable procurement, Energy News Network article contributed by Laura Sherman / Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council.
Missouri S&T Researchers Study How Energy Customers Decide To Use Solar, St. Louis Public Radio
Minnesota Power to reach 50% renewables in 2021 with Canadian hydropower, Utility Dive. Minnesota’s second largest investor-owned utility on Thursday energized its 224-mile transmission line that will bring the utility to 50% renewable energy in 2021.
It’s time for a green stimulus: Here’s how a small Vermont utility can show the way, Utility Dive article contributed by Darren Springer, general manager at the Burlington Electric Department.

21 CAMPUSES’ AGGREGATED RENEWABLE ENERGY RFP

Higher-ed consortium partners on renewable energy, Cornell Chronicle
Cornell is among 21 higher-education institutions in New York submitting a collaborative request for proposals to purchase renewable electric energy from sources built over the next 2 ½ years in New York state. Technologies such as solar, wind and hydroelectric could be considered as part of the solicited requests for proposals (RFP). The RFP, which launched June 11, aggregates the campuses’ renewable electricity needs in an effort to lower financial barriers and reduce risk.

CAMPUS MICROGRIDS

Campus Microgrids Emerge as Solution to Energy Challenges in Higher Education, Microgrid Knowledge.

This special report series on campus microgrids and reliable, renewable energy in higher education begins with an entry that explores the energy goals of today’s colleges and universities — and how to reach them. Download the full report, The Genius of Microgrids in Higher Education, courtesy of Siemens, to further explore the potential of microgrids on college and university campuses.

PAYING IOWA FARMERS TO SEQUESTER CARBON

Inside Cargill’s experiment to pay farmers for carbon sequestration, by Heather Clancy, GreenBiz. While Cargill is the only named company participating in the new fund, Mark Lambert, director of Quantified Ventures, said it is in discussion with other large companies.

SOLAR & WIND AS FARM PRODUCTS

Deborah J. Comstock: Solar and wind should be considered farm products as well, Monroe Evening News

In an age where we are redefining much of our infrastructure and industries, farming should be no different. Deborah J. Comstock is an Adrian farm owner and board member of Lenawee Indivisible.

NEW COALITION

Land & Liberty Coalition launches Iowa chapter, Business Record
The Iowa Land & Liberty Coalition is a project of the Iowa Conservative Energy Forum, a clean-energy organization focused on state-level policy, according to the release announcing its formation. “Iowa farmers and landowners are the bedrock of our state and by partnering with them to engage in utility-scale siting efforts we hope to advance energy policies that make way for clean energy while respecting property rights,” Jake Ketzner, ICEF executive director, said in the release.

HAPPY GLOBAL WIND DAY!

Know The History And Objective of the Day That Highlights the Power of Wind Energy, Reve

The World Wind Day event is celebrated worldwide in more than 80 countries annually.

LONGi joins the Global Initiative RE100; commits to 100% renewable power across its entire global operations by 2028

***LONGi News Release, PR Newswire***

LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as “LONGi”), the world’s leading solar technology company, announced that it has officially joined the global RE100 initiative led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP, on March 12th, 2020. LONGi commits to sourcing 100% renewable electricity across its entire global operations by 2028 with an interim target of 70% by 2027.

The global RE100 initiative aims to unite Global Fortune 500 companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Philips and Goldman Sachs, to the committed goal of 100% renewable energy in the shortest possible timeframe. In order to achieve this climate goal, each company in the RE100 will commit to source 100% of the electricity used across their global operations from renewable energy. Continue reading here.

228 RE100 companies have made a commitment to go ‘100% renewable’. Read about the actions they are taking and why here.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

Amazon places 300MW clean power order, reNEWS
Amazon is backing clean power projects in Europe and the US, as well as Australia, as part of its goal to reach 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% renewable energy by 2030, towards net zero carbon by 2040.
Green tariffs drive big increases in corporate renewable procurement, Utility Dive
Jinko enters the residential solar game with a bang, PV Magazine Editorial Team
Chinese module manufacturer Jinko Solar has unveiled a few details about its newly-launched all-black monocrystalline module for residential PV projects, the first purely residential module ever released by Jinko.
Construction begins on Ohio’s largest solar project, PV Magazine
The installation marks the beginning of what is expected to be an Ohio solar boon, with Wood Mackenzie ranking the state as top in the Midwest for development over the next five years.
Offshore wind’s once-in-a-generation opportunity, by Greg Alvarez, Into the Wind, AWEA Blog
The big takeaway from AWEA’s just-released Offshore Wind Economic Impact Assessment: Offshore wind could create 83,000 new jobs by 2030. That means opportunity up and down the East Coast as we construct America’s 26,000 megawatt (MW) offshore project pipeline. Building an offshore wind project is a true team effort, requiring electricians, engineers, pipefitters, vessel operators, wind technicians and dozens of other occupations. In fact, 74 different professions are needed to build an offshore wind farm according to the Workforce Development Institute.
In Utah, Hydrogen And A Massive Salt Dome Are Winning The West For Renewable Energy, Forbes
Apartment Dwellers At New Complex Benefit From Rooftop Solar Panels, NPR
A Utah company is expanding the solar panel business to apartment complexes, where renters can benefit from renewable energy usually reserved for individual homes.
Archived Clean Energy Group Webinar Recording & Slides – Soleil Lofts: The Largest Solar+Storage Virtual Power Plant in the Country

GREENTECH MEDIA PODCAST

Watt It Takes: Turning Real Estate Into Clean-Power Assets
This week on Watt It Takes: Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sits down with Robyn Beavers, the co-founder and CEO of Blueprint Power. Blueprint works with real estate companies to turn their buildings into clean energy power plants. Blueprint developed software that helps building owners optimize their use of co-generation, fuel cells, solar or batteries.

BUILDING INTEGRATED PV (BIPV)

GAF Energy, part of the world’s largest roofer: The time is now for building integrated PV and solar roofs, PV Magazine

Martin DeBono, president of GAF Energy, part of the world’s largest roofing company, thinks that the time is now for building integrated PV (BIPV). He told PV Magazine: “You have the backing of GAF — a 100-year old company and the world’s largest roofer.” He added, “I can assure you — without naming names — the largest solar companies in the U.S. are getting into roofing. I think that Tesla has it absolutely right. They’re playing the long game, as are we. The industry will evolve from rack-mounted to BIPV.”

OF POTENTIAL INTEREST TO NEBRASKA MANUFACTURERS

EPA encourages manufacturers to save energy, Yale Climate Connections
More than 1,000 plants have signed up for the Energy Star Challenge for Industry.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

Seven of the best new documentaries about global warming, Yale Climate Connections
The films screened at the recent Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Throughout these diverse pieces was a common probing of the disproportionate impacts of climate change on the health and wellbeing of indigenous communities, people of color, and economically disadvantaged individuals.

NEW APPA INFOGRAPHIC: ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

What makes a utility environmentally responsible?, American Public Power Association

Environmental responsibility is a key cornerstone of public power. In meeting this, utilities fulfill a variety of roles, such as:

SOLAR RECYCLING

Washington State Passes Bill That Will Improve Solar Recycling Program, Solar Power World
This week the Washington State House and Senate passed a bill that will update the state’s solar recycling policy. This bill will inform the final design and adoption of a comprehensive solar recycling program that is data-driven and considers the lifespan of modules that can last up to 50 years in the field.

GLOBAL NEWS

Storage Hybrid Plants Becoming More Attractive in Maturing Wind and Solar Markets, Greentech Media. Cramped grids, project repowering and a growing demand for “firmer” green PPAs are changing the equation for storage co-location globally.
Wind and Solar Power Will Soon Be Cheaper Than Coal Globally, New Research Shows, EcoWatch

10th Annual National Solar Jobs Census: Solar Jobs Up Nationwide and in 31 States After Two Years of Losses

News Release, The Solar Foundation

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. solar industry employed nearly 250,000 workers in 2019, an increase of more than 5,600 jobs (or 2.3%) since 2018, according to the 10th annual National Solar Jobs Census released today by The Solar Foundation. This marks a resurgence in solar industry employment following two years of job losses in 2017 and 2018.

The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit educational and research organization, issues the National Solar Jobs Census each year to provide comprehensive and reliable data on the U.S. solar workforce. Since the first Solar Jobs Census was published, American solar jobs have increased 167%, from just over 93,000 jobs in 2010 to 249,983 jobs in 2019.

Read the entire news release here.

Links to More Information

The full report and a map of solar jobs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico can be found here.
About The Solar Foundation

Photo Credit: The Solar Foundation

Additional Recommended Reading

Solar Census: US solar hits near record employment as Southeast shines, PV Magazine
The solar industry, which represents 2.6% of overall U.S. electricity generation, already employs twice as many workers as the U.S. coal industry.
US solar industry powers ahead as investors back batteries, Financial Times
Fund managers and energy-hungry tech companies bankroll ‘solar-plus-storage’ projects.
The Future of Battery Energy Storage Is Upon Us, Forbes
Louisville 160th City to Pass 100% Renewable-Energy Resolution, Public News Service
Kaiserwetter CEO explains how artificial intelligence will change solar investing, asset management, Solar Builder Magazine. For O&M month here on the site, we reached out to Kaiserwetter CEO Hanno Schoklitsch to learn how artificial intelligence is being used to maximize solar plant profitability.
BNEF: The 2010s were a decade of US energy transformation and economic growth, by Renewable Energy World Editors, Renewable Energy World Magazine. The eighth edition of the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) chronicles a profound transformation in U.S. energy that is still very much underway. The report, which includes over 130 slides, provides users with straightforward charts to understand how the change has impacted most segments of the energy sector.
BNEF Infographic – Corporate procurement of clean energy through green tariffs:
18 regulated utilities offer a green tariff for customers to choose cleaner electricity .

2/3 of U.S. voters say 100% renewable electricity by 2030 is important

By Christian Roselund, PV Magazine USA

In a new poll conducted on April 12-14, Morning Consult asked 1,998 registered voters across age, eduction and political spectrum not only broad questions, but about the specifics of renewable energy policies currently proposed, among other matters. And it revealed a number of details about what the nation’s voters want. You can see the entire poll here, and following are our top conclusions reached from the data. 1) Voters say 100% renewable electricity by 2030 more important than other steps to fight climate change.
Continue reading here.

Image Credit: Sunrise Movement

Also Published by PV Magazine
2 GW of pumped hydro storage proposed for Arizona
Earth has an estimated 500,000 suitable sites for closed-loop pumped hydro storage, which can pair well with solar power. In the United States, 24 pumped hydro storage units are in operation, totaling 18.4 GW of capacity. Most were authorized more than 30 years ago—attesting to the longevity of the technology—as reported by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

MORE 100% CLEAN ENERGY NEWS & LINKS

A closer look at Washington’s superb new 100% clean electricity bill, by David Roberts, Vox
The trend of states targeting 100 percent clean electricity has gone viral. Last month, New Mexico targeted 100 percent clean by 2045. The Maryland legislature recently passed a bill targeting 50 percent renewable by 2030 and looking into the viability of 100 percent by 2040. Illinois might pass a 100 percent target soon. Of course California and Hawaii already have, to say nothing of more than 100 US cities (most recently Chicago). It’s a lot to track. So it’s understandable that there hasn’t been much coverage of the 100 percent clean energy bill that is on the verge of passing in Washington (SB 5116), the one Washington governor and presidential candidate Jay Inslee has been pushing. But it is the best of the bunch. And I’m not just saying that because I live here.
A call for 100% renewable energy at Barnard, by Barnard for 100% Renewable Energy,
Columbia Spectator. In March of 2017, Barnard’s board of trustees voted in favor of divestment from fossil fuel, coal, and tar sands companies that deny climate science or otherwise undermine efforts to mitigate climate change. We, Barnard for 100% Renewable Energy, are here nearly two years later to ask Barnard to take the next step and fully divest from fossil fuels. We are asking the administration to commit to 100 percent renewable energy by no later than 2040.
Lansing budget would power all city buildings with 100% renewable energy by July, Great Lakes Echo
100% Renewable Energy: Building a better future with our minds AND our hearts, by Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director, Red, Green and Blue. Almost 120 cities and municipalities have committed to 100% clean energy since Trump took office, including – just last week – a breezy little burg called Chicago.
Yale Climate Connections Audio: More than 100 U.S. cities have pledged to switch to renewable energy: It’s a response to citizen pressure.
Mayors for 100% Clean Energy
Companies Ready for 100: 173 influential companies have made a commitment to go ‘100% renewable’. Read about the actions they are taking and why. Led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP, RE100’s purpose is to accelerate change towards zero carbon grids, at global scale. A growing number of them are also encouraging their suppliers to make a commitment to go 100% renewable.
Inside Tesla’s 100% renewable design for the Gigafactory, Fast Company
The factory, which currently makes battery packs and electric motors for the Model 3, will eventually be the biggest building in the world–with the world’s largest rooftop solar array.

NEW GUIDE FROM THE ADVANCED ENERGY BUYERS GROUP

Renewable Energy Offerings That Work For Companies
The guide walks through six practical steps that states and utilities can take to meet large customer demand for renewable energy, and also outlines replicable best practices from states across the country, based on the experience of Advanced Energy Buyers Group members.

These examples span utility renewable energy programs (often called “green tariffs”), direct access opportunities, and retail choice. For states that want to unlock the economic benefits of renewable energy options for corporate customers but don’t know where to start, and for states or utilities that have begun exploring opportunities and want to hone in on the best approach, the Advanced Energy Buyers Group’s practical guide offers a roadmap for action.

Wind energy, tax breaks sought to bring Google to Becker, Minn.

By Kirsti Marohn – Collegeville, Minnesota, Minnesota Public Radio News

Google proposes to build the 375,000-square-foot data center on roughly 300 acres owned by Xcel Energy next to the Sherburne County Generating Station, the largest coal-burning plant in the Upper Midwest. Xcel will retire two of Sherco’s three generators in the next seven years. Google is working with Xcel to ensure that electricity used to power the data center will come from renewable sources. Continue reading here.

Previously Posted

Google announces plans to build data center in Nebraska; signs point to Omaha area, Omaha World-Herald
Google And Apple Lead The Corporate Charge Toward 100% Renewable Energy, Forbes
Emerging Green Tariffs In U.S. Regulated Electricity Markets, World Resources Institute
Nebraska – Omaha Public Power District, Page 17.

HAPPENING IN OTHER STATES

Have You Heard The Buzz? Displaced Coal Workers Follow In Tradition of Appalachian Apiculture, CleanTechnica

Appalachian Headwaters operates the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective, continuing a long-standing tradition of Appalachian apiculture. They say the Beekeeping Collective has the potential to bring millions of dollars into the region, offering job options and supplemental incomes for hundreds of people.

IL’s Adjustable Block Program Meets Staggering Interest, Natural Resources Defense Council
The Illinois Adjustable Block Program recently began accepting project applications, launching what has the potential to be a massive build out of distributed generation and community solar projects bolstered by the program’s Renewable Energy Credit (REC) incentives.
Adjustable Block Program Website
Adjustable Block Program Guidebook
State incentives have solar energy surging in Illinois, Chicago Daily Herald
Proposal aims to juice incentives for energy storage systems, Deseret News
A proposal before Utah legislators to incentivize the purchase of battery storage systems for solar and/or wind-powered energy systems would be a boon for those who want to become energy independent while lowering their carbon footprint.
Ford signs deal with DTE for 500,000 megawatt hours of wind energy, Daily Energy Insider
Just Ask Alaska: Yes, Diesel-Killing Solar Panels Work In The Cold, CleanTechnica
Shine touts success of Fort Hood solar farm, wants more alternative energy for state, The Kileen Daily Herald. Alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power could turn Texas into an energy-exporting state, according to state Rep. Hugh Shine, R-Temple.
The Golden State is officially a third renewable, and it’s not stopping there, PV Magazine
California has passed its 33% renewable energy target two years before the 2020 deadline. The state’s next renewable milestone is at 44% by 2024, a 33% growth in just over five full years.
Solar energy system installers expect 2019 will be a good year, The Ledger
This is the final year American consumers can receive a 30 percent federal tax credit for having a residential solar energy system installed. That credit will drop to 26 percent in 2020, and 22
percent in 2021, before dropping altogether for residential customers.

ADVICE ON GOING SOLAR

Column: Here’s why I went with solar, by Alan Youngblood / Star-Banner photo editor.
Published by The Ledger

Solar is pretty much a no-brainer. You reduce your carbon footprint while saving money or eliminating your power bill. The federal government has also extended the 30 percent tax credit on everything connected to the installation of residential solar panels through 2019. That means that 30 percent of what you spend on a solar installation comes right off the taxes you owe. Click image to watch YouTube video of the installation in fast motion.

Residential & Business Incentives
Federal Investment Tax Credit for solar systems and small wind turbines: 30% through 2019. Small wind: 100 kilowatts or less. Source: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE)

EV / ETHANOL NEWS

Daimler, BMW ink $1B joint mobility deal, Smart Cities Dive
Automakers Daimler AG and BMW Group announced they have signed a $1 billion-plus deal to merge their ride-hailing, parking and electric vehicle (EV) charging services to create what the companies call “a new global player providing sustainable urban mobility.”
As Electric Cars Shift Into Mainstream, The Corn Belt Begins To Ponder A Post-Ethanol Future, Harvest Public Media

Missouri utilities consider program to pay for efficiency on customer bills

Written by Karen Uhlenhuth, Midwest Energy News

The Pay As You Save program puts energy efficiency projects within reach
for renters and lower-income customers.

Missouri utilities are studying a potential program that would let customers pay for energy efficiency projects through their monthly bills. Pay As You Save, or PAYS, has been primarily used by rural electric cooperatives, but it has supporters in Missouri and Iowa who think it could be a valuable tool to put energy efficiency upgrades within reach for more customers. A consultant recently analyzed the program’s potential for all three of Missouri’s investor-owned utilities. Continue reading here.

Photo Credit: Roy Manchester / Flickr: Countdown To My Electric Bill

CORPORATE RENEWABLE ENERGY BUYING

As corporate renewable buying surges, innovative PPAs pressure utilities to improve green tariffs, Utility Dive. Green tariff structures that
allow utilities to serve corporate demand for renewables within
regulatory rules continue to evolve slowly. But power purchase agreements between renewables developers and big energy users are adding innovative, risk-limiting financial strategies that make them
more appealing and challenge utilities to match the offers.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

NIPSCO to add 800 MW wind in first steps to coal-free generation, Utility Dive. Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) finalized agreements on Friday with three renewables developers for a trio of wind projects capable of generating up to 800 MW, the first steps in its plan to stop delivering coal-fired power. NIPSCO filed an integrated resource plan (IRP) in October that lays out a route to be coal-free by 2028.
Indiana NAACP leaders say coal plant timeline is unacceptable for residents, Midwest Energy News. A northwest Indiana utility made headlines in September when it announced it will retire its last coal plant within a decade. That’s not soon enough for the predominately African American community that bears the brunt of the plant’s pollution burden.
Small hydropower providers are hoping it’s their time to shine as Colorado moves toward a renewables future, The Colorado Sun. My dream is to get to the world where hydropower is like rooftop solar,” said Kurt Johnson, a hydropower advocate who co-authored the Colorado Energy Office’s “2015 Small Hydropower Handbook.”
Penn State University: Powered by the Sun, PR Newswire
Penn State, one of country’s largest and most prestigious research universities, makes significant investment in solar energy project with global solar leader Lightsource BP.
Energy Storage: Next Game Changer, Contributor, CleanTechnica
News flash: Solar works in cold weather, Contributor, Solar Power World

U.S. SOLAR PANEL MANUFACTURING

SunPower officially producing P-Series at former SolarWorld factory in Oregon

Demand for Clean Energy Coming from Businesses, not Politics

By Rod Walton, Power Engineering

U.S. companies are dominating corporate procurement of clean energy this year even as global demand rises, and the record pace accelerated with two new and very different types of American firms announcing renewable power purchase agreements (PPA) totaling 160 MW this week.

Jelly maker J.M. Smucker Co. signed a long-term PPA with Lincoln Clean Energy for 60 MW of wind power from the 230-MW Plum Creek project in Wayne County, Nebraska. The Plum Creek PPA will help Ohio-based Smucker gain half of its electricity use from clean energy by 2020.
Continue reading here.

iStock photo

ALSO OF POTENTIAL INTEREST

Upcoming Webinar – The Next Frontier: Emerging Models in Renewable Energy Procurement, August 21, 12 to 1 pm CT
It’s a buyer’s market for renewable energy procurement, GreenBiz
Here’s what corporate buyers can expect from green tariffs, GreenBiz

From WINDExchange Newsletter
Associations Allow Landowners to Collaborate on Wind Energy Developments
In conjunction with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, WINDExchange produced an audio interview with Paul Stout, board member of the Coalition of Renewable Energy Landowners, an organization launched in 2009. Landowner groups may allow rural landowners to collaborate to negotiate wind energy development agreements as a group. According to Stout, when wind energy developers need to assemble large parcels of land for a wind farm, it is easier for them when they have one negotiated agreement that everyone can sign. Learn more about wind project development at the WINDExchange website.

Facebook’s Nebraska reach expands

By Jason Kuiper, The Wire, OPPD Blog

Facebook announced today their Nebraska data center will be three times the size of its original announcement. The Papillion data center will be six buildings instead of two with groundbreaking set to begin in May on the additional buildings. Facebook announced last April their plan to build its next data center here and credited the development of OPPD’s Rate 261M as one of the biggest draws. Read the entire blog post.

Facebook’s Press Release: Papillion Data Center Expanding to Six Buildings
Author: Jim Piazza, Director of Data Center Operations, East. Last year, we worked with Omaha Public Power District to create a new renewable energy tariff that ensures we can power our data center with clean and renewable energy. With the tariff in place, we could seek new, in-state wind projects, which we found in Enel Green Power‘s Rattlesnake Creek Wind Project. We will now increase our purchase from 200 MW to 320 MW to support our growth, and we are excited to share that we have partnered with Adobe to help them enter the U.S. renewable energy market with Enel; 10 MW of Rattlesnake Creek will be allocated to Adobe.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING
Enel sells energy from new US wind farm to Facebook and Adobe, Enel Press Release
The new deal between Enel and Facebook widens the scope of the bundled, long-term power purchase agreement for 200 MW signed in November 2017 to gradually include the plant’s overall output by 2029, following Facebook’s decision to significantly expand its data centre in Papillion, around 120 miles from Rattlesnake Creek. The energy produced by the entire wind farm will enable the expanded data centre to be 100% renewable-powered.

“Powering our data centers with 100% clean and renewable energy is not just a goal for Facebook, it is a requirement of our business,” said Bobby Hollis, Director of Global Energy at Facebook. “The Rattlesnake Creek wind farm will enable us to power our future Papillion Data Center, and fulfills our passion to expand the energy market for other corporate buyers, like Adobe.”

The expansion increases Facebook’s total investment in the Papillion Data Center to $1 billion.

A new way for Fortune 500 companies to buy wind power

By Hannah Hunt, Into the Wind, AWEA Blog

Good news blew in from Michigan late last week: General Motors and Switch signed up as the first customers to buy wind power through Consumers Energy’s new green tariff. The new Cross Winds Energy Park II in Tuscola County will supply enough wind energy to match demand at both General Motor’s Flint Metal Center and Flint Engine Operations, as well as at Switch’s 1.8 million-square-foot data center campus in Grand Rapids . . . As of last September, 17 green tariffs in 13 states have been proposed or approved. Thursday’s announcement was the fourth where a green tariff translated to wind energy procurement. Read more here.

Creative Commons Photo

OPPD’s green tariff:

Like this: Facebook buys more wind power

How Corporations ‘Bypassed the Politics’ to Lead on Clean Energy in 2017

By Julia Pyper, Greentech Media

Click image to watch an AWEA video showing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos smashing a bottle of champagne to launch Amazon Wind Farm Texas in October 2017.

As of December 12, when heads of state joined to commemorate the second anniversary of the Paris Agreement, 327 major corporations, worth a cumulative $6.5 trillion, had committed to matching their emission reduction plans with the Paris goals through the Science Based Targets initiative. Another 864 companies have stated their intention to adopt a science-based target within two years . . . In addition, some 1,700 U.S. businesses from every state and of varying sizes — from Walmart to Wild Joe’s Coffee Spot in Bozeman, Montana — have signed the “We Are Still In” declaration. The initiative, which also includes cities, statehouses and college campuses, was intended to demonstrate America’s enduring commitment to delivering on the promise of the Paris Agreement. Click here to learn more.

Nebraskans for Solar

Solar: the energy of life