Google, GM, and more than 300 other companies launch Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance

Google, GM, Facebook, Walmart, Disney, and more than 300 other companies have launched the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), an organization that aims at making renewable energy purchases easier for large-scale buyers.

The alliance wants to create “a resilient carbon-free energy system where every organization has an easy and cost-effective path to buying renewable energy.”

REBA has set a goal to “bring more than 60 gigawatts of new renewables online in United States by 2025,” which would have a serious impact on renewables in the country. To put that in perspective, that’s almost equivalent to the total solar capacity currently installed in the U.S.

A REBA graph shows corporate renewable energy deals hit 6.53 GW in capacity last year, and almost 16 GW in the past five years. On-site generation and deals with operating plants were excluded from the count. (A report earlier this year claimed corporations purchased 13.4 GW of clean power last year, with 8.5 GW coming from U.S. PPAs.)

Going from 16 GW to 60 GW by 2025 requires a great deal of growth — Electrek confirmed REBA’s goal includes existing corporate renewable deals — but bringing this many major companies into the fold could make it possible. REBA CEO Miranda Ballentine said,

“Never before has such a diverse group of organizations, from every industry, come together to form an association with a single, market-focused, mission-driven vision of a zero-carbon energy future.”

60 gigawatts by 2025 is the goal—#REBA19 aims to drive the US market for non-residential #renewables to the equivalent of Mexico’s total #energy use. Follow @RenewableBuyers for more! https://t.co/rwoaPYYv0c pic.twitter.com/4e8yULsMhi

— Clean Energy Buyers Association (@CleanEnergyBA) March 28, 2019

Besides Google and GM, other companies listed in REBA’s “leadership circle” include Facebook, Johnson + Johnson, Disney, Salesforce, Citi, and a number of energy companies, including First Solar, EDF Renewables, and Distributed sun. REBA’s website offers more details about the alliance, which goes beyond the biggest corporations:

“REBA is a national membership association, supporting stakeholders in the entire clean energy transaction: buyers, developers, and service providers of renewable energy. Membership in REBA is available to any nonresidential energy buyer, as well as to clean energy developers and other service providers committed to the zero-carbon energy future.”

Electrek’s Take

REBA has also expressed its desire to “expand the number of organizations buying clean power from dozens today to tens of thousands.” This goal, along with the alliance’s target of adding 44 GW of new renewables to hit 60 GW by 2025, can be a serious driver — and indicator — of the ongoing green energy transition.