Corporations have been adamant that they want renewable energy. Last year, corporations and government agencies broke records by signing contracts to buy 13.4 gigawatts of power, with 1 gigawatt being equivalent to 1 billion watts. To put this in perspective, this is similar to Nevada’s total generating capacity. Despite the wave of federal policies that had the potential to lower the demand for clean power, the U.S. made up 63 percent of global corporate renewable deals last year. The growth over the past year shows tremendous progress for renewable energy. Let’s take a deeper look at what is behind the boom.

Tech Giants are Going Green

Tech giants like Apple, AT&T, Google and Facebook are standing out as leaders in the field. They are paving the way for other corporations to ultimately pledge to achieve 100 percent of their power from renewables. When you hear a company like Google say, “We’re 100% renewable energy,” it usually means that they are buying as much clean, renewable energy as it is consuming unclean.

Facebook Inc. alone made deals on more than 2.6 gigawatts of clean energy just last year. This is three times that of the next highest corporate energy buyer, AT&T. Google announced early last year that they currently held contracts to purchase 3 gigawatts from renewable energy projects.

The Global Effort Towards Going Green

Communities, companies and nations have set clean-power targets in a global effort to stop climate change, which puts the need for renewable energy at an all-time high. Today the green boom is being driven by renewable energy. In most markets, wind and solar power is the cheapest source of electricity and renewable energy is increasingly competitive with fossil fuels. In fact, Exxon Mobil Corp. signed a clean-power deal last year for the Permian Basin, which is one of the fastest growing U.S. oil fields.

“It’s no longer a safe bet to assume that utilities are the biggest source of clean-energy demand,” Kyle Harrison, a New York-based analyst at BloombergNEF, said in an interview. “The sheer scale of renewable-energy purchases is unprecedented and only poised to grow.”

Make the Change

The world is turning towards renewable energy and corporations have made major progress in renewable energy growth. Now that big corporations are paving the way, it has and will continue to become more affordable for other corporations and small businesses.

If you are interested in joining the movement towards renewable energy, contact the team at Intersect Energy today! We provide analysis, financing, and structuring of alternative energy solutions for your site with a goal of reducing the site’s environmental impact while maximizing savings for you as the site owner. Contact us today to get started on your next renewable energy project. Make sure you keep up with the latest news in the world of renewable energy by following us on LinkedIn!