Government, IT Biggest Buyers of Green Power

Intel tops a list of the top 50 buyers of green power released by the Environmental Protection Agency, but government agencies dominate most of the list.

Intel bought 1.3 billion kilowatt hours of renewable power during the first quarter, according to the EPA. The definition of renewable power combines onsite power, power obtained through renewable energy certificates and power obtained through utility power projects. PepsiCo was No. 2 with 1.1 billion kilowatt hours. The renewable power covers 46 percent of Intel's power consumption and 100 percent of Pepsi's.

The Pepsi Bottling Group came in at No. 6 with 470 million kilowatt hours. If the two Pepsis were combined, it would be No. 1.

Intel and PepsiCo have ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, for all of 2008. What do Intel and the Pepsis have in common? Both use Sterling Planet as a power provider. (3Degrees shows up quite a bit too.)

Like previous lists, government agencies continued to account for the largest number of institutions. In all, 17 government agencies, such as the state of Wisconsin, or government-controlled institutions, such as Oregon State University, are on the list.  The largest is the U.S. Air Force, which ranks No. 5 overall and bought 426 million kilowatt hours of renewable power, 5 percent of its total. The California State University system took the No. 50 spot with 66 million kilowatt hours.

Computer and IT companies, which are making a concerted push into green technology, occupied six spots on the list. Besides Intel, Dell and Cisco made it into the top ten. Dell ranked No. 4 with 554 million kilowatt hours, 158 percent of its power consumption, while Cisco ranked No. 9 with 400 million kilowatt hours, 46 percent of its power budget. Others included Sony, Advanced Micro Devices and Motorola.

Retail also made a strong showing: Kohl's, Walmart, Safeway, Whole Foods and Staples are all on the list. Besides Pepsi, food and beverage notables include Dannon and WhiteWave Foods.

Only a small number of industrial producers – Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, Mohawk Paper – made the list, while only one real estate developer, the Tower Companies, made the list.

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