U.S. Air Force tops EPA’s list of renewable energy users

Green Power purchases increased by nearly 100 percent since 2004

Washington, DC— The 2006 Green Power Top 25 list includes a diverse set of United States companies, organizations and government institutions that have voluntarily bought the most renewable energy and are part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Green Power Partnership. EPA also announced its Green Power Partners are now purchasing more than 4 million megawatt hours of renewable energy, an increase of nearly 100 percent since the end of 2004.

The 2006 top 25 green power purchasers are buying enough energy to power more than 300,000 homes a year, which is also comparable to removing the emissions of nearly 400,000 cars from the road annually. More than half of the top 25 EPA green power purchasers are comprised of corporations, a number that continues to increase every year.

The U.S. Air Force once again leads the green power list, purchasing more than one million MWh annually for Air Force bases across the country. The Air Force has held the No. 1 spot since the top 25 list started in September 2004. Whole Foods Market surpassed both Safeway, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson to lead all corporate purchasers after increasing their purchase to more than 450 thousand MWh annually of renewable energy. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy follow the U.S. Air Force in purchase size for government institutions in the top 25.

Green power is electricity generated from environmentally-preferable renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, and low-impact biomass and hydro resources. Green power accounts for nearly two percent of America’s electricity supply, but voluntary purchasing of renewable energy is accelerating renewable energy development.