After being named a top green power purchaser by the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year, Microsoft has been honored as one of four organizations nationwide to receive the EPA’s Green Power Partner of the Year award. We received the award late last month at the 2012 Renewable Energy Markets Conference in Washington, D.C., where the EPA handed out its 2012 Green Power Leadership Annual Awards. The award recognizes the country’s leading green power purchasers for their commitment to helping advance the development of the nation’s voluntary green power market.
The EPA chooses the organizations based on their purchase, leadership, overall strategy, and impact on the green power market. Microsoft is purchasing more than 1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which is enough green power to meet 46 percent of the company’s purchased electricity use. Currently, Microsoft ranks number 3 on the EPA’s National Top 50 List and number 2 on EPA’s Top 20 Tech & Telecom List. According to the EPA, Microsoft’s current green power purchase is equivalent to taking 151,000 passenger vehicles per year off the road.