Some of the biggest multinational businesses in the United States, including Walmart, Salesforce, Microsoft, Amazon, and Lockheed Martin, have formed an Advanced Energy Buyers Group to align their renewable energy purchases with their corporate sustainability targets.
“A growing number of companies have made a commitment to advanced energy by setting renewable energy- or energy-related sustainability targets, but antiquated market and regulatory barriers stand in the way,” explained Malcolm Woolf, senior vice president of policy at Advanced Energy Economy, which convened the companies. The buyers’ group will give the companies a platform “to advocate for federal and state policies that will expand access to all forms of advanced energy.”
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Policies and regulations in many jurisdictions will have to be brought up to date if companies are to meet their energy and sustainability targets, AEE notes in a release. “The Advanced Energy Buyers Group will work toward policy solutions that make it easier for companies to pursue advanced energy solutions like wind power, fuel cells, demand response, energy storage, hydropower, solar, and more,” the organization states.
“As Microsoft buys more renewable power, we are looking for ways to make these energy sources more affordable and accessible—for ourselves as well as other businesses and households,” said Chief Environmental Strategist Rob Bernard. “We’ve made good progress, but more work needs to be done to advance policies that make it easier and cheaper for more companies, schools, hospitals, and families to buy clean energy. These policies help support businesses, create new jobs, strengthen our electricity grid, and create a more sustainable future.”
Lily Donge, principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Business Renewables Center, called the buyers’ group “a new voice to engage legislators and regulators on policy issues—an important aspect for a market that has been moving towards renewables as the energy of choice.”
