Google, Walmart help to launch renewables group

Major US corporations have started a trade association focused on helping companies procure renewable energy.

Google, Facebook, General Motors and Walmart, as well as about 300 other companies, today publicly launched the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), which aims to bring more than 60GW of new renewables on line by 2025.

The coalition could help boost US corporate use of renewables and the purchase of associated renewable energy certificates (RECs).

"Every enterprise — whether it is a bakery, a big-box retailer, or a data center — should have an easy and direct path to buy clean energy," REBA board chair and Google head of energy market strategy Michael Terrell said.

The organization was formally incorporated in December after being started as an informal coalition in 2016 by four non-governmental groups.

REBA hopes to provide a platform for companies of all sizes to more easily purchase renewable energy. The organization said that price is no longer a barrier to renewable energy development, but lack of access to renewables makes it difficult for some companies to meet their sustainability and energy goals.

A growing number of US companies, especially in the technology sector, have set targets to power as much as 100pc of their operations with renewable energy, as they work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their operations and combat climate change. Facebook is aiming to be powered entirely by renewables by 2020, while Google says it reached the 100pc mark in 2017.

To date, many companies have met their goals through a mix of direct purchases of renewable energy and RECs to offset their use of fossil fuel-based generation.