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EPA's Green Power Top-25 Announced: Wells Fargo Joins List as Top Corporation

Release Date: 10/03/2006
Contact Information: John Millett, (202) 564-4355 / millett.john@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. - Oct. 3, 2006) Wells Fargo & Company joined EPA's top-25 green power purchasers as the top corporation on the list, edging out other big corporate names such as Whole Foods, Johnson & Johnson, and Starbucks. EPA announced its quarterly list of organizations that purchase electricity generated from clean, renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro.

"By switching to alternative, renewable power sources, Wells Fargo is showing their interest in green doesn't stop at money," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "EPA and our environmental partners are meeting President Bush's call to green our nation's energy – proving that doing what's good for the environment is also good for business."

EPA's Green Power Partnership is comprised of a diverse array of organizations that voluntarily purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. Current Green Power Partners are purchasing more than 7 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy, an increase of nearly 240 percent since the end of 2004. This amount of kilowatt hours is equivalent to the energy needed to power more than half-a-million average American homes annually.

Green power currently accounts for nearly two percent of America's electricity supply. Voluntary purchases play an important role in accelerating the development of new renewable energy sources nationwide.

Once again, the U.S. Air Force leads the national green power top 25 list, purchasing more than 1 billion kWh annually for Air Force bases across the country. Whole Foods Market is ranked No. 3 behind newcomer Wells Fargo. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is ranked No. 4, with Johnson & Johnson rounding out the top five.

New to the top 25 list is the No. 2 purchaser, Wells Fargo & Company, making it the largest U.S. corporate purchaser of green power. Over the next three years, Wells Fargo will purchase 550 million kWh of clean, renewable energy, an amount that totals nearly 40 percent of Wells Fargo's electricity use. This purchase alone will prevent the emissions of more than 380,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year – the equivalent of carbon dioxide emissions from more than 75,000 cars.

Information on EPA's top 25 list: https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top25.htm

The complete list of Top 25 EPA Green Power Partners is as follows, listed in order of purchase size:

1. U.S. Air Force
2. Wells Fargo & Company
3. Whole Foods Market
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
5. Johnson & Johnson
6. Starbucks
7. DuPont Company
8. U.S. Department of Energy
9. Vail Resorts, Inc.
10. HSBC North America
11. University of Pennsylvania
12. The World Bank Group
13. IBM Corporation
14. Sprint Nextel
15. Safeway Inc.
16. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
17. The Tower Companies
18. U.S. General Services Administration / Region 2
19. California State University System
20. Staples
21. City of Austin, Texas
22. City of San Diego, Calif.
23. Natureworks LLC
24. FedEx Kinko's
25. Duke University