The Empire State Building has become New York City’s largest commercial purchaser of 100% renewable energy. The 2.85 million square-foot office building announced Thursday that it is purchasing 100% wind power from Green Mountain Energy Company, a leading retail provider of cleaner energy and carbon offset solutions.
“It was a natural fit for us to combine 100% clean energy with our nearly completed, ground breaking energy
efficiency retrofit work,” said Anthony E. Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings. “Clean energy and our nearly 40%
reduced consumption of watts and BTUs gives us a competitive advantage in attracting the best credit tenants at the
best rents. Our program of innovation at the Empire State Building shows simple, replicable, non-proprietary steps for
other landlords to follow to be more energy efficient, cleaner and greener.”
The iconic landmark has signed a two-year contract with Green Mountain to purchase nearly 55 million kilowatt hours
(kWh) of renewable energy annually, which will avoid nearly 100 million pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
each year. That is the equivalent of nearly every house in New York State turning off all their lights for a week.
The purchase is also more than double the amount of renewable power that any other commercial customer in New
York City is currently buying.
Green Mountain received the electricity contract after a bid process with multiple Electric Service Companies
(ESCO’s), facilitated by MCEnergy, Inc., the Empire State Building’s energy consulting firm.
“This announcement is
historic for many reasons. In addition to being the largest commercial consumer of green power in New York City, the
Empire State Building’s renewable power purchase is now the largest purchase in our company’s 13-year history," said Paul Thomas, CEO of Green Mountain Energy Company.
The Empire State Building’s historic green power purchase exceeds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA’s) Green Power Partnership requirements. Based on EPA’s current rankings, New York City’s most
recognizable building is expected to rank No. 18 on EPA’s national Top 100% Green Power Purchaser List, which
represents green power purchasers that are buying green power to meet 100% of their U.S. organization-wide
electricity use.
The renewable energy to supply the Empire State Building will be purchased in the form of wind Renewable Energy
Certificates (RECs) from NRG Energy, Green Mountain’s parent company. Purchasing these RECs is a widely
accepted way to address the greenhouse gas emissions of electricity consumption. Purchasing RECs in the same
quantity as the Empire State Building‘s electricity consumption ensures that the amount of energy used by the building
is added to the U.S. power grid from renewable sources and supports the further development of these projects.
Green Mountain will work with the Empire State Building to develop materials to educate the building’s tenants and
visitors about the benefits of choosing renewable energy.
Green Mountain also offers New York City residents in the Con Edison service territory a choice of competitively-priced clean energy products. The company began serving residential and commercial customers in New York in
November 2009.
Green Mountain Energy was acquired by NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) in November 2010.
The Empire State Building’s green power purchase further reinforces the building’s sustainability strategy. In July, the
Empire State Building unveiled a $2 million interactive, multi-media sustainability exhibit at the second floor visitor’s
center, which showcases a $20 million energy retrofit project that was announced with President Bill Clinton and New
York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The installation aims to educate the millions of people who visit the building
every year on the positive global impact of both energy efficient building and sustainable living practices.
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