The Green Power Leadership Awards (GPLAs) are the oldest and most coveted competitive awards in the renewable energy industry. They recognize outstanding leadership in the field by individuals and organizations that are driving green power development and adoption. They are presented by Center for Resource Solutions and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the annual Renewable Energy Markets conference.
Congratulations 2023 GPLA Winners
Center for Resource Solutions presented the 2023 Green Power Leadership Awards on September 19, 2023, awarding seven organizations and one individual for their roles in promoting and expanding the use of clean, renewable energy. The awards were presented during the Renewable Energy Markets 2023 conference in Washington, D.C. in the categories of Market Development, International Market Development, Leadership in Education, and Leader of the Year.
“Our 2023 Green Power Leadership Award Winners are leaders not just in renewable energy use themselves,” said Jennifer Martin, executive director of CRS, which co-presents the annual awards with the U.S. EPA. “but they are also taking a leadership role in ensuring access to clean energy for underserved communities, and educating consumers about the importance of the transition to clean energy. We are proud to honor their hard work and commitment today.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also awarded Green Power Leadership Awards to five winners. More information about U.S. EPA’s awards is available at the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Leadership Awards page.
Center for Resource Solutions Awards
MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Global Electronics Council
GEC is a mission-driven nonprofit that manages the leading global Type 1 ecolabel, EPEAT for sustainable electronics. Since its launch in 2006, 1.5 billion EPEAT products have been purchased, which equates to a reduction of 220 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. GEC recently announced the addition of new EPEAT criteria, the first of its kind to decarbonize the supply chain for solar panel production. This new criteria will help to identify PV models that meet meaningful thresholds for low embodied carbon and help reduce Scope 3 emissions.
Hormel Foods
Hormel Foods is a leader in driving demand and increasing market impact through its implementation and education of green power internally and in its communities. The company created an internal competition among team members to design and implement sustainability and green energy projects and construct a community-first solar garden in Minnesota. 100% of Hormel Food’s power comes from renewable sources. To achieve this, Hormel Foods has committed to multiple onsite and offsite Power Purchase Agreements across the country.
INTERNATIONAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Iron Mountain Data Centers
In 2021, Iron Mountain became one of the first companies to commit to 24/7 clean electricity by the year 2040. To achieve this, the company has adopted Google’s methodology for matching site by site electricity use with local clean power generation and created “carbon heat maps” that combine hourly electricity consumption and regional electric grid emissions to monitor its progress. Collectively, Iron Mountain Data Center’s hourly clean energy tracking represents over 75% of its annual electricity consumption.
Salesforce
in 2023 Salesforce announced its plans to purchase 280,000 MWhs of Distributed Renewable Energy Certificates over 8 years to accelerate clean electricity access in energy markets across the globe. This first-of-its-kind purchase is catalyzing new, high-impact projects in Brazil, India, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia that advance a just and inclusive energy transition. This purchase will not only unlock $65 million of investments in new solar capacity in emerging economies, but it is also expected to avoid over 50,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
Concha y Toro
Concha y Toro has led the way promoting the use of renewable energy in Chile and has worked side by side with legislators to achieve a more efficient and transparent market. The company installed 16 new solar photovoltaic plants in the last few years, totaling more than 3.5 MW of installed capacity and avoiding the emission of more than 27,000 tons of CO2 per year. Having achieved 100% renewable energy supply in 2020, moving forward, Concho y Toro has set the goal to move away from the use of fossil fuels at their facilities by 2025.
LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
As the creator of the Climate Toolkit, the Phipps Conservatory wanted to create an opportunity for collaboration and education among museums and cultural institutions. The Climate Toolkit helps cultural institutions address Climate Change within their own organizations and inspire the communities they serve to follow their lead. The Toolkit embraces 32 goals for addressing climate change, including reducing fossil fuel use and purchasing renewable electricity. Currently, the Toolkit has over 80 national and international participant institutions, which collectively serve more than 54 million annual visitors.
Reactivate
Reactivate is a partnership between Lafayette Square and Invenergy that collaborates with local partners to deliver renewable energy benefits to underserved communities. Earlier this year, Reactivate launched its Building Equity in Solar Training (B.E.S.T.) program, a national workforce training program that standardizes the skills and provides the necessary certifications needed for a successful career in the solar sector. The program has achieved a 100% graduation rate among the job trainees and over 90% have been placed in careers with livable wages and benefits.
LEADER OF THE YEAR
Heather Mulligan
As Manager of Puget Sound Energy’s Customer Clean Energy Solutions team, Heather Mulligan leads the way in helping customers adopt renewable energy and reduce their carbon footprint through PSE’s voluntary programs. While Heather has extensive experience in the renewable energy industry, what sets her apart is her ability to inspire and motivate her team to design and operate quality products that leave no customer behind in Washington’s clean energy transformation. Heather puts special emphasis on relationship building. Heather is not only a leader, but a mentor who empowers others to find solutions, identify improvements and opportunities for partnerships inside and outside of PSE.
For more information about the EPA Awards, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/green-power-leadership-awards or contact Bailey Rosen at Rosen.Bailey@epa.gov.
No endorsement by the EPA is intended or implied.
