Aggregated Renewables Purchasing: 5 Key Questions, Answered

This guide from the World Resources Institute explains buyer-led aggregated procurement of renewable energy for local governments in the United States, detailing the benefits, challenges, and strategies for successful implementation to advance decarbonization goals.

• Buyer-led aggregated procurement involves two or more local governments or other stakeholders—such as non-profits, corporations, or schools—forming a buyers' group to define a clean energy project and contract with developers. These projects typically target community-scale or larger installations with a capacity of at least 500 kilowatts (kW), utilizing contracts with utilities or physical and virtual power purchase agreements (PPAs).
• Aggregated procurement offers several advantages over individual procurement, including lower costs through economies of scale and shared administrative expenses, such as the cost of hiring energy consultants. It also allows smaller entities, like small towns, to access procurement opportunities by pooling demand with larger cities or corporations, while facilitating the sharing of expertise among group members.
• Local governments face barriers to aggregated procurement due to a lack of internal staff expertise in renewable energy mechanisms and the resource-intensive nature of large-scale deals, which involve complex legal, regulatory, accounting, and risk considerations. To mitigate these, the guide suggests employing a dedicated project manager—often a council of governments (COG) or regional planning commission (RPC)—and establishing a formalized governance structure or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
• To maximize pricing benefits, a buyers' group should aim for an aggregated demand of at least 20MW, as the cost savings from adding additional capacity become minimal beyond this threshold. Projects smaller than 1MW-10MW are generally more expensive and less attractive to developers.
• Local governments can enhance equity and community benefits by including under-resourced stakeholders in the buyers' group, such as school districts and housing authorities. Additionally, they can include contract stipulations requiring developers to provide job training, hold educational workshops, protect biodiversity, or contract 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} }