AUSTIN, Texas — Whole Foods Market has received a Green Power Partner of the Year award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the third time.
Whole Foods Market was one of only four organizations, and the only grocer, to win the award. The retailer was recognized for increasing its green power purchasing to include nearly 818 million kilowatt-hours of green power in 2010, which is enough to exceed 100% of the company's purchased electricity use.
According to the EPA, 818 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy credits is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 71,000 average American homes annually.
"Whole Foods Market has committed to reducing our energy consumption by 25% per square foot by 2015 and uses a comprehensive alternative energy approach to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, including a mix of on-site solar power and fuel cells and electricity offsets from wind power," said Kathy Loftus, global leader of sustainable engineering and energy management for Whole Foods Market, in a statement.
