Bloomberg L.P., the global financial software, data and media company, has joined RE100 and set an ambitious goal to use 100% renewable electricity by 2025.
Bloomberg’s commitment furthers the company’s ongoing efforts to prove that sustainable business practices are good for the environment and good for business.
The move comes ahead of the release of the 2015 Bloomberg Impact Report later this month, which will reveal the full extent of its efforts around renewables and sustainability.
Curtis Ravenel, Global Head of Sustainable Business and Finance at Bloomberg, said: “Sourcing renewable electricity enables us to diversify our energy supply, reduce costs, provide a hedge against rising traditional energy costs and helps contribute to cleaner, healthier communities.
“RE100 convinced us that they had gathered a strong coalition of committed companies, dedicated to real outcomes. That’s exciting to us. Collaborating with other companies who are demonstrating that distributed clean energy makes business sense will allow all of us to have a greater impact in bringing other companies along.”
Amy Davidsen, Executive Director, North America at The Climate Group, said: “Bloomberg is the first US company to join RE100 post Paris and we are delighted to see their continued progress. The company recognizes that renewable power will help to lower costs, reduce risk and contribute to a cleaner, healthier future – a win for both business and the environment.
She added: “There’s a huge opportunity for businesses to deliver emissions cuts via renewables and Bloomberg’s leadership is exactly what we need to inspire many more companies to make the switch to renewables, too.”
Although long committed to integrating sustainability into its business model, Bloomberg was only sourcing 1% of its electricity from renewable energy in 2015. In 2013, the company set a target to use 35% renewable electricity by 2020 and it is making good progress; expecting to source 21% from renewables by the end of 2017.
Having previously purchased renewable energy credits (RECs) as a means of reducing its carbon footprint, Bloomberg has shifted its efforts to developing renewable power generation projects either on-site or nearby to offices and data centers.
Lower financial costs and financial mechanisms like Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are making the transition possible, with benefits including reduced emissions and financial savings.
In autumn last year the company completed the Bloomberg-JFK Airport Park Solar Project – the first solar project of its kind in New York City to use remote net metering, a system that enables a site with poor solar capacity to benefit from solar PV systems installed at an alternative site.
With a generating potential of 1,800 MWh annually, the solar park will enable Bloomberg’s Manhattan headquarters to partially convert to solar electricity, and result in the avoidance of almost 535Mt of CO2 being released per year.
In addition, Bloomberg’s other renewable energy projects include a 2.9 MW PPA to supply renewable power to its data center in Rockland County New York, a 184 KW project at its New Jersey office, and a 20 MW wind farm PPA that will power almost half of Bloomberg’s New York offices. The projects are scheduled to come online by the end of 2017.
Find out more about Bloomberg’s journey to 100% renewable electricity by reading our interview with Curtis Ravenel.
RE100 now includes 55 companies from a wide range of sectors and operations all over the world. Including: Adobe, Alstria, Autodesk, Aviva, Biogen, Bloomberg L.P., BMW Group, BROAD Group, BT Group, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Commerzbank, DSM, Elion Resources Group, Elopak, Formula E, Givaudan, Goldman Sachs, Google, H&M, IKEA Group, Infosys, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.(IFF), J. Safra Sarasin, Johnson & Johnson, Kingspan, KPN, La Poste, Land Securities, Marks & Spencer, Mars Incorporated, Microsoft, Nestlé, Nike, Inc., Nordea Bank AB, Novo Nordisk, Pearson PLC, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Proximus, RELX Group, Salesforce, SAP, SGS, Starbucks, Steelcase, Swiss Post, Swiss Re, Tata Motors Limited, UBS, Unilever, Vaisala, Voya Financial, Walmart and YOOX Group.