Aggregated Renewables Purchasing: 5 Key Questions, Answered

The document outlines how U.S. local governments can use aggregated procurement—forming buyers' groups to pool demand—to lower costs and accelerate clean energy deployment. It identifies key benefits such as economies of scale and shared expertise, while noting barriers like lack of staff expertise and complex legal requirements. The guide provides five strategies for success, including appointing dedicated project managers and targeting a minimum aggregated demand of 20MW for optimal pricing, and suggests ways to integrate equity and community benefits into these contracts.

• Aggregated procurement allows local governments to reduce costs by dividing administrative expenses, such as hiring energy consultants, and leveraging pooled demand to secure better pricing per megawatt through economies of scale.
• Local governments face significant barriers to aggregated procurement, primarily a lack of internal staff expertise regarding renewable energy mechanisms and the resource-intensive nature of navigating legal, regulatory, accounting, and risk considerations.
• To maximize cost savings, buyers' groups should aim for an aggregated demand of at least 20MW, as the price reductions gained from increasing project size become minimal beyond this threshold.
• Successful aggregated procurements are supported by five key strategies: employing a dedicated project manager (often a council of governments or regional planning commission), securing internal leadership buy-in, forming an aligned buyers' group, ensuring sufficient demand, and adopting a formalized governance structure.
• Local governments can enhance equity and community benefits by including under-resourced entities like school districts and housing authorities in buyers' groups, and by including contract stipulations for job training, biodiversity protection, or contracting with Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (MBDWEs).

APA

World Resources Institute (2022). Aggregated Renewables Purchasing: 5 Key Questions, Answered. https://www.wri.org/insights/aggregated-renewables-purchasing-us-cities

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Aggregated Renewables Purchasing: 5 Key Questions, Answered. 2022. https://www.wri.org/insights/aggregated-renewables-purchasing-us-cities.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Aggregated Renewables Purchasing: 5 Key Questions, Answered |date=7 November 2022 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/aggregated-renewables-purchasing-us-cities |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2022aggregated, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Aggregated Renewables Purchasing: 5 Key Questions, Answered}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/aggregated-renewables-purchasing-us-cities}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }