Equinix, Inc. has announced that for the first time it appears on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Green Power Users Lists, ranking 18th on the National Top 100 List of the largest green power users and sixth on the Tech & Telecom Green Power Users List. The company is using 300 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually in the U.S., which is enough green power to meet 25% of the organization's U.S. electricity use. This demonstrates a proactive choice to switch away from traditional sources of electricity generation and support cleaner renewable energy alternatives.
According to the U.S. EPA, Equinix's green power use of 300 million kWh is equivalent to the electricity use of more than 28,000 average American homes annually. The organization defines green power as zero-emissions electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact hydro. Using green power helps accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide and helps users reduce their carbon footprints.
"Equinix continues to make significant steps in closing the gap to becoming 100% renewable across our global footprint of data centers. We are honored to be named to the EPA's Green Power Partnership and Top Lists and named beside other progressive companies that value sustainable practices," said Sam Kapoor, chief global operations officer, Equinix.
In September Equinix announced that it signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 105 megawatts (MWAC) of new solar power with SunEdison, Inc. The purchase covers all of Equinix's California data centers, including 11 facilities located in the Los Angeles and Silicon Valley metro areas, as well as its Redwood City, California global headquarters. With this deployment, Equinix's data center footprint will increase its use of clean, renewable sources from 30% to 43% globally. This purchase largely contributed to Equinix being named to the EPA's lists of green power users.
Earlier this year Equinix announced its commitment to 100% clean and renewable energy for its entire global footprint of 105 data centers located in 33 markets. For more information about Equinix's sustainability practices, please visit: http://www.equinix.com/company/green/.