Whole Foods tops retail green power purchasers; Kohl’s moves into 2nd

September 3, 2007—The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently updated its list of the top 10 retail purchasers of green power (as of July 2007) in the US. This list represents the largest completed annual green power purchases of all retail partners within the Green Power Partnership.

EPA says these green power purchases help drive the development of new green power resources nationwide. The combined green power purchases of these organizations amounts to an estimated 1.4 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, which is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 140,000 average American homes each year, adds EPA.

There were several changes in the quarterly list, most notably Kohl’s Department Stores’ move from the number five spot to number two (and from number 24 to number eight on the list of overall green power purchasers). Kohl’s significantly increased its green power purchases from roughly 80 million kilowatt-hours to more than 201 million kilowatt-hours, equal to 20% of the company’s electricity use.

The Top 10 Retail Partners are listed below, along with their respective green power usage (in kWh), and the percent of green power out of the company’s total electricity.

1. Whole Foods Market (509,104,786; 100%)
2. Kohl’s Department Stores (201,396,000; 20%)
3. Starbucks (185,000,000; 20%)
4. Staples (121,800,000; 20%)
5. Safeway, Inc. (87,000,000; 2%)
6. Lowe’s (86,000,000; 2%)
7. FedEx Kinko’s (76,312,000; 29%)
8. Office Depot (76,000,000; 12%)
9. REI (63,080,000; 100%)
10. Coldwater Creek, Inc. (60,000,000; 100%)