New partnership invites region’s largest energy users to accelerate trends of purchasing renewables, advance sustainable development goals
Announcing Renewable Energy for the Power of 32- 32 counties, 4 states, 1 vision
(PITTSBURGH, PA – January 24, 2018 ) – With the goal of accelerating the uptake of large scale renewable energy for the region, Sustainable Pittsburgh, CEOs for Sustainability, and the Power of 32 are launching a promising new initiative called Renewable Energy for the Power of 32 (RE4P32). RE4P32 will assist interested large and medium-sized organizations in acquiring renewable energy, individually and through aggregations, and thus grow this valuable low-carbon energy resource for a more balanced, resilient, and environmentally competitive region. The geographic scope of this initiative covers the 32 counties uniting southwestern Pennsylvania with eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and western Maryland.
To help the city of Pittsburgh, the region, and the area’s institutions make the transition to greater renewable energy, Sustainable Pittsburgh has partnered with a Washington D.C.-based renewable energy advisory firm, CustomerFirst Renewables (CFR). CFR has served as an independent and objective advisor to several of the nation’s largest aggregated renewable energy procurements. Leveraging CFR’s expertise and support, RE4P32 will help the region’s largest energy users procure renewable energy in a tailored, cost effective manner.
Where circumstances warrant, RE4P32 will convene large and medium sized energy users to advance, through their combined purchasing power, new wind, solar, and/or hydroelectric development for the region. The initiative will educate regional leaders on the opportunity presented by large-scale renewable energy, and how they can be a catalyst in accelerating the transition.
“With such a small proportion of the region’s energy being produced by truly renewable sources, as shown by our past reports (P32 Energy Flow Chart and SWPA Sustainability Goals & Indicators Report), there is great need and opportunity to grow renewable energy generation and consumption for our region,” said Court Gould, Executive Director of Sustainable Pittsburgh. “Our region is poised to take part in the international business trend of large energy consumers purchasing, and thus enabling, installation of large-scale renewable energy facilities – solar, wind, hydroelectric.”
“CFR’s mission is to catalyze the doubling of renewable energy generation in the US by 2025. Achieving this ambitious target is made possible by innovative leaders such as Sustainable Pittsburgh, who are challenging convention and pushing for a more sustainable and resilient future for the 32-county region, the country, and the world,” stated CFR President and CEO, Gary Farha.
The green energy revolution is here. International and domestic trends show its rapid growth, illustrating an increasingly strong business case for renewable energy. As such, the market is moving in the direction of large energy consumers purchasing renewables. Sustainable Pittsburgh’s P32 Energy Flow Chart as well as its SWPA Sustainability Goals & Indicators Report show the amount of renewable energy as a portion of the whole is under two percent; the potential for this region to move the renewable energy needle is indeed profound.
The two organizations look forward to working collaboratively to advance Renewable Energy for the Power of 32 to engage the region’s leading institutions and businesses in stepping up to this unprecedented challenge. Among early collaborating organizations are the City of Pittsburgh and Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter. For more information contact:
Court Gould, Sustainable Pittsburgh, cgould@sustainablepittsburgh.org
Bob Mango, CustomerFirst Renewables, bmango@customerfirstrenewables.com
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