The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Green Power Leadership Award winners for 2024, honoring four top organizations in the agency’s Green Power Partnership program. This year’s winners are tech giant Microsoft Corp., MilliporeSigma, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and Signature Aviation.
The EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that helps increase clean energy use among U.S. organizations, including Fortune 500 companies; small and midsize businesses; local, state, and federal governments; and colleges and universities. In 2022, the program had about 700 partners voluntarily using nearly 95 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually.
For more than 20 years, the Green Power Leadership Awards have recognized hundreds of partner organizations for their exceptional achievements. This year’s winners are using nearly 14 billion kWh of green power annually, enough to power approximately 1.3 million average American homes for a year.
“Each year, we see increasingly impactful and sophisticated strategies from these leaders,” said Paul Gunning, director of the Office of Atmospheric Protection. “EPA commends their commitment to powering their operations while curbing their emissions, protecting public health and the environment, and growing the green power market.”
2024 Winners
Microsoft Corp., a multinational tech company based in Redmond, Washington, is being recognized for large-scale procurement, leadership in temporal and geographic matching of renewable energy generation to electricity consumption, and initiatives to deliver equity benefits through investments in green power. In 2024, Microsoft used more than 10 billion kWh of green power, equal to the annual electricity use of nearly 1 million average American homes. The company is also supporting market development of the infrastructure required to track and dispatch generation to match electricity consumption in moving towards its goal of achieving 100% carbon-free energy consumption, 100% of the time, by 2030. The EPA is also recognizing Microsoft for its energy equity initiatives, including partnering with a national African American-owned solar development company for a 250 megawatt (MW) portfolio of solar projects with an emphasis on environmental justice.
MilliporeSigma, a multinational science and technology company based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is being recognized for its innovative procurement approach, employee engagement, and efforts to increase renewable energy adoption within its supply chain. MilliporeSigma procures 100% renewable energy through a diverse portfolio of on- and off-site supply options, including self-supply, financial power purchase agreements, retail renewable energy certificates, and utility green tariffs. The company empowers employees to take part in its sustainability strategy by committing to actions related to green power, such as suggesting facility improvements and switching to green power at home. MilliporeSigma also encourages suppliers to use green power by assessing supplier knowledge of green power options, requesting that suppliers establish and report targets around renewable electricity, and providing a toolkit to help suppliers engage in the green power market.
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is being recognized for its 100% on- and off-site green power procurement strategy, innovative educational initiatives, and significant electrification efforts matched with green power. Phipps Conservatory produces power on its campus through solar photovoltaic arrays and a wind turbine. The garden also matches its ambitious electrification initiatives with 100% green power procurement, with three new all-electric buildings and ongoing electrification initiatives for existing buildings and outdoor equipment. In addition to regularly educating its nearly 500,000 annual visitors about green power, it hosts an annual “Making the Switch at Phipps” program where energy providers inform visitors about their green power options, offering free annual memberships to those who choose 100% green power in their homes. Phipps also established The Climate Toolkit, enabling 184 participant institutions serving over 86 million annual visitors to access resources related to energy efficiency and green energy for their own institutions.
Signature Aviation, based in Orlando, Florida, is a support services company for business and private aviation that is being recognized for its tiered green power development strategy incorporating on- and off-site renewable energy development, ambitious electrification initiatives, and leadership and engagement with industry peers. Signature Aviation meets 100% of its electricity needs through a mixed portfolio that prioritizes generation geographically close to its operational use. The aviation grounds services company has maintained 100% green power usage while implementing an ambitious strategy to transition ground service equipment from diesel and gasoline to electric power, with 1,160 units transitioned to electric or low-emitting technologies to date. Signature Aviation also leads its peers in green energy procurement as the first fixed-base operator to achieve 100% green power procurement.
More information on the EPA’s Green Power Partnership is available here.