A new solar purchase agreement announced late last month by Amazon Web Services (AWS) sends exactly the right message while analysts and investors are still sorting out the energy implications of the recent U.S. election results, the EnerNOC Energy Intelligence Team states in a blog post this week.
AWS unveiled plans to buy electricity from five solar farms across Virginia in a deal with a subsidiary of Dominion Energy. “With the move, AWS makes progress toward its goal of powering 100% of its data centres with renewable energy, and approaches its 2016 target of going 40% green,” EnerNOC notes. “Following the news—as well as some other projects Amazon has in the pipeline—the company increased its 2017 target for green energy to 50% of its data centre operations.”
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The post points to Amazon, along with giant retailers Walmart and Target, as part of a group of big U.S. businesses that “seem to be pushing forward with their sustainability efforts despite an uncertain regulatory future following the election results earlier this month.” Amazon’s decision “suggests that PPAs [power purchase agreements] will remain a viable option for achieving corporate sustainability goals, even as regulations evolve.”
The deal points to a rapid evolution for Amazon, which only two years ago was seen to have made a strong commitment to renewables, but with no roadmap for achieving it.
