How to increase your company’s renewables portfolio

The document outlines four primary methods for companies to procure renewable energy: onsite installation, power purchase agreements (PPAs), renewable energy certificates (RECs) or guarantees of origin (GOs), and green tariffs. It highlights that companies often combine these methods based on capital availability, energy demand, and market options, citing examples like Microsoft, Google, Iron Mountain, and Equinix. Additionally, the guide recommends collaborating with organizations such as the Business Renewables Center (BRC), the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), and the Corporate Renewable Energy Buyers’ Principles to overcome barriers and increase corporate demand for renewable energy.

• Companies have four main options for procuring renewable energy, often using a combination of them: onsite installation (building infrastructure on corporate property), Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) (contracts for future energy production), Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) or Guarantees of Origin (GOs) (certificates representing environmental attributes of one unit of energy), and green tariffs (utility-supplied renewable energy from the local grid).
• Specific corporate examples demonstrate different procurement strategies: Microsoft and Google primarily use PPAs and on-site investments; Iron Mountain utilizes onsite solar and a 15-year wind PPA; and Equinix employs a mix of certified green power, PPAs, RECs, and onsite generation from solar and fuel cells.
• Companies can accelerate their progress and reduce costs by joining collaborative groups that address market barriers, including BSR’s Future of Internet Power (focused on data centers), the Business Renewables Center (BRC) run by RMI, the Corporate Renewable Energy Buyers’ Principles managed by WRI and WWF, and the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA).
• The RE100 campaign, a partnership between The Climate Group and CDP, requires participating companies to source 100% renewable electricity and had 95 member companies at the time of writing.

APA

Harrison, D. (2017). How to increase your company’s renewables portfolio. We Mean Business Coalition. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/how-to-increase-your-companys-renewables-portfolio/

Chicago

Harrison, Denielle. How to increase your company’s renewables portfolio. We Mean Business Coalition, 2017. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/how-to-increase-your-companys-renewables-portfolio/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Harrison |first1=Denielle |title=How to increase your company’s renewables portfolio |publisher=We Mean Business Coalition |date=22 May 2017 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/how-to-increase-your-companys-renewables-portfolio/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{harrison2017how, author = {Harrison, Denielle}, title = {{How to increase your company’s renewables portfolio}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2017}, month = may, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/how-to-increase-your-companys-renewables-portfolio/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }