Companies organize to facilitate the purchase of renewable energy: NPR

Going green is often easier said than done, but a new business organization hopes to change that. While focusing on large energy buyers, the group plans to make changes that could make renewable energy more accessible to all Americans.

Companies from a variety of industries – including Walmart, General Motors, Google and Johnson & Johnson – form a trade association that represents companies that buy renewable energy and remove the barriers that complicate carbon abandonment.

The new organization, the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, builds on years of work between business and non-profit climate advocacy organizations. Currently, about 200 companies, cities and universities are involved.

Miranda Ballentine, CEO of the new professional group, said the organization would help advance the energy markets and public policies to facilitate the choice of green energy purchasing. .

According to Ballentine, it is harder than you think for a company to choose renewable energy.

"Especially nowadays, when we see a lot of renewable energy technologies that meet or beat brown [conventional] energy prices, one might think, 'Hallelujah! The day has come, clean energy is here, we can now just go and buy it. & # 39; But there are a number of obstacles, "she says.

One is the way in which the energy markets are set up. They vary by region – some areas offer more choice than others. But in many places, buyers can not select a source of energy from a utility.

"They can not really say," I want the energy from this wind project out there, "said Ballentine." They literally can not contract directly for some energy sources. "

In other cases, there are technological challenges. "Some renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar do not produce 24/7 – they produce when the sun is shining and when the wind is blowing," says Ballentine. "And we, energy consumers … we need our energy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," she says.

REBA hopes to ease its purchasing power to support technological innovation and encourage public services to offer more green options – calling for public policy changes as needed.

"The demand side of the equation really has a unique role to play, a unique voice and ability to drive the clean energy market," said Ballentine.

Many companies have set green energy goals as part of their overall sustainability efforts, whether for corporate responsibility or in pursuit of positive public relations.

But Steve Chriss, director of energy and strategic analysis at Walmart, explains that there is also a financial calculation.

Walmart has "a great desire to function as clean and sustainable as possible," he said. "But we also want to operate at the lowest possible cost.In countries where the costs of renewable energy have been offset, we believe that in a number of markets, renewable energy will be the best option in terms of costs.

"It's not just a specialized game for the interests of a few [companies] This is really a business game of providing the cheapest resources possible. "

Walmart, which operates on a large scale, organizes multiple sources of renewable energy – from rooftop solar energy to complex arrangements with utilities. According to Chriss, other companies might be interested in green energy, but "do not necessarily have the scale or capabilities of a Walmart" to pursue these options.

The REBA will aim to open access to green energy to all its members, not just the most powerful mega-companies.

"As access points increase, more and more efforts are made, economies of scale result in lower costs," said Chriss. "We are trying to find solutions for renewable energy to be the cheapest resource on all markets."

Priya Barua, head of innovation in public services at the World Resources Institute, said the work of the new occupational group could have implications far beyond those of its members. The institute is one of four non-profit organizations that contributed to the creation of the REBA.

"It's not just about creating options for [corporate and industrial] customers, but using their collective purchasing power … to create options in the market that would benefit everyone. "