Google, Facebook, General Motors and Walmart, along with over 300 other companies, have launched the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA).
According to the partners, the initiative represents the largest group of corporate renewable energy buyers in the U.S. By working to unlock the marketplace for organizations to buy renewable energy, REBA hopes to bring more than 60 GW of new renewables online in the U.S. by 2025.
With offices in Washington, D.C., and Boulder, Colo., the new association will function as a membership organization spanning diverse industries and business types.
“Every enterprise – whether it’s a bakery, a big-box retailer or a data center – should have an easy and direct path to buy clean energy. Ultimately, sourcing clean energy should be as simple as clicking a button,” says Michael Terrell, head of Google’s energy market strategy and REBA’s first board chair.
“Today’s REBA launch demonstrates that large energy buyers from across every sector of the U.S. economy, large and small, are committed to doing their part to solve this problem. At General Motors, we are proud to be a founding member,” notes Rob Threlkeld, global manager for sustainable energy and supply reliability at General Motors.
REBA aims to provide a forum to bring together companies to drive a sustainable future. Membership is available to any non-residential energy buyer, as well as clean energy developers and other service providers committed to carbon-free energy. The association plans to offer members a number of services:
● Educational programs, tools and training to help companies prepare to buy clean energy at scale;
● Policy advocacy for corporate renewable energy buyers and their brands, supporting policies that promote access to clean energy in the U.S.;
● Research, data and communications to support market growth and the evolution of electricity systems around the world; and
● International coordination via a network of supporting corporate renewables organizations to expand access to renewables in key global markets.
“Never before has such a diverse group of organizations, from every industry, from every sector, come together to form an association with a single, market-focused, mission-driven vision of a zero-carbon energy future,” says REBA’s inaugural CEO Miranda Ballentine, a former U.S. Air Force executive. “Large energy buyers have the power to move markets.”
REBA was originally founded as a partnership between four non-governmental organizations – Rocky Mountain Institute, the World Wildlife Fund, the World Resources Institute and Business for Social Responsibility – to address major obstacles large corporate buyers face in procuring and installing renewable energy. The successful collaboration has now allowed the REBA community to grow to more than 200 large energy buyers and more than 150 clean energy developers and service providers.
“We commend REBA and its members for their advocacy of policy solutions that seek to create more accessible pathways for consumers of all sizes to buy renewable energy,” says Steve Chriss, director of energy services at Walmart Inc. “These efforts will play a critically important role in pursuit of meeting the 60 GW goal that REBA members have set.”
