Harnessing Nature’s Power

The report outlines strategies for U.S. companies to adopt on-site renewable energy, focusing on solar, wind, geothermal, and solar thermal technologies. It details various ownership and financing models—ranging from direct ownership to third-party power purchase agreements—and analyzes the associated financial incentives, operational risks, and corporate benefits such as cost hedging and brand enhancement.

• Certain renewable technologies, specifically large-scale wind power, solar thermal water heating, and geothermal heat pumps, are already economically competitive with traditional fossil fuel energy sources.
• Companies can achieve cost savings through 'peak shaving,' which involves producing renewable energy during periods of peak power use when utilities typically charge higher rates; solar photovoltaic systems are noted as particularly effective for this.
• On-site renewable energy deployment offers several corporate benefits, including reducing energy costs, creating a hedge against future price volatility, improving energy reliability (if paired with storage), reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancing brand reputation.
• There are four primary deployment models for on-site renewables: Direct Ownership (Use of Power), Direct Ownership (No Power Use), Third-Party Ownership (Use of Power), and Third-Party Ownership (No Power Use).
• Federal incentives for renewable energy include the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which is 30% for certain solar and small wind technologies and 10% for geothermal heat pumps, and the Production Tax Credit (PTC), which is 2.0¢ per kWh for wind, geothermal electric, and closed loop biomass for the first 10 years.
• State-level incentives vary widely and include corporate tax credits (e.g., Florida), franchise tax deductions (e.g., Texas), sales tax exemptions (e.g., Washington and Minnesota), and property tax exemptions (e.g., New York and Illinois).
• The 'No Power Use' direct ownership model is currently uncommon due to high on-site demand, poor site quality, and regulatory disincentives like net metering limitations, but could grow if governments adopt feed-in tariffs (FIT).
• Companies face several risks when deploying on-site renewables, including dispatch risk (intermittency), operational risk (maintenance), technology risk (obsolescence), transfer risk (relocation), and potential negative impacts on credit metrics for smaller firms.
• To claim the use of green power for brand enhancement, a company must retain the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs); selling RECs to improve project economics forfeits the right to claim the use of green power.

APA

Hassett, T. C., & Borgerson, K. L. (n.d.). Harnessing Nature’s Power. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/pdf/harnessing_natures_power.pdf

Chicago

Hassett, Timothy C., and Karin L. Borgerson. Harnessing Nature’s Power. World Resources Institute, n.d. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/pdf/harnessing_natures_power.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hassett |first1=Timothy C. |last2=Borgerson |first2=Karin L. |title=Harnessing Nature’s Power |publisher=World Resources Institute |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/pdf/harnessing_natures_power.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hassettndharnessing, author = {Hassett, Timothy C. and Borgerson, Karin L.}, title = {{Harnessing Nature’s Power}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/pdf/harnessing_natures_power.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }