Over the last decade, many large-scale energy buyers started setting clean energy goals, indicating a positive change toward clean energy within electricity systems. However, many didn’t have the knowledge or resources to achieve these goals, largely because buyers lacked opportunities to interact with and learn from each other. Since buyers hold a large amount of energy in the United States — over half of all energy consumption comes from the commercial and industrial sector — the connections and relationships between buyers can greatly influence the market.  

Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance 

WRI is one of four NGOs that formerly led the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (now the Clean Energy Buyers Alliance, or CEBA), which is a coalition to empower multinational companies to transform electricity systems with renewable energy. Operating as its own organization since 2018, CEBA aims to help facilitate and deploy 60 gigawatts (GW) of new corporate renewable energy in the United States by 2025. WRI serves on the Governing Board and Advisory Board of the organization. For more on our work with CEBA, visit our Utility Green Tariffs page or the CEBA website. 

Buyers’ Principles 

The Corporate Renewable Energy Buyers’ Principles convey the criteria that industry-leading, multinational companies seek when buying renewable energy from utilities and other suppliers. 

A group of large energy buyers developed the Buyers’ Principles to spur progress on renewable energy and to add their perspective to the future of the U.S. energy and electricity system. WRI and WWF facilitated their efforts. 

WRI and WWF publicly launched the principles in July 2014 with 12 signatories. By June 2018, 75 companies had signed on, representing over 69 million MWh of annual demand in 2020. To learn more, visit buyersprinciples.org. 

Photo credit: Jason Blackeye