April 26, 2016
Sustainability Roundtable Inc. (“SR Inc”) was pleased to host dozens of selected corporate operating and sustainability executives across industries at its headquarters in Cambridge, MA on March 25th. These executives met for a highly focused discussion designed to support and inform SR Inc’s year-long examination into how companies can begin to prepare strategies that will, by 2030, enable them to plan for “regenerative” operating portfolios. Examining why and how corporations might move to regenerative (i.e. non-polluting and health restoring) operations may sound audacious in 2016; however, making it less aspirational and more a practical opportunity is a currently unfolding revolution in renewable energy. This revolution is inflecting even as dozens of SR Inc Sustainable Business & Enterprise Roundtable (“SBER”) Member-Client enterprises seek SR Inc’s assistance in setting Corporate Sustainability Goals and, in many cases, second and third generation goals, metrics and targets.
Five years ago, only a small handful of SBER Member-Clients budgeted for the contracting or even just the examination of renewable energy. Now in SR Inc’s focused, one-on-one, Roadmap, Scorecard and Goal Setting assistance as well as SR Inc’s confidential, annual, industry specific, SBER Management Assessment and SBER Member Advisory Plan (“MAP”) service, it is clear most SBER Member-clients across sectors and industries have budgeted for both renewable energy and for further examination of additional renewable energy opportunities. Furthermore, SBER Member-clients now regularly ask SR Inc for additional focused relevant assistance especially in regard to developing portfolio-wide strategies for renewable energy throughout their global corporate portfolios, which are often primarily or even wholly leased. Finally, nearly a dozen SBER Member-Clients have publically committed to sourcing 100% of their energy from renewable sources globally. All this remarkable interest in renewable energy in its many forms and transaction structures represents the most dramatic change in SBER Member Executives’ priorities since SR Inc was incorporated on Earth Day 2008. It also explains why SR Inc is only deepening its multi-year examination of – and relevant assistance regarding – management best practices in corporate renewable energy.
Less than Three Dozen Companies Power the Exponential Growth of the C&I Market for Renewables.
Member-Clients have been especially interested in SR Inc’s assistance developing a portfolio-wide approach to renewable energy that enables them to:
SBER Member-Clients who are leading globally in this historic move to renewable energy have only increased their relevant efforts in 2016 – efforts that are strengthened by:
The primary driver of this inflecting revolution is the regularly and impressively improving economics of installed renewable energy. The positive change in this regard is so quick and dramatic it is difficult for the general business media to cover it. Multiple renewable technologies have crossed the historic threshold of being cost competitive – or superior on financial basis alone – to grid electricity in a growing number of U.S. markets. As Al Gore has observed in The Case For Optimism on Climate Change, the difference between costing more than conventional energy and costing less is not a difference in degree, it is a difference in kind. It is similar to the difference between heating H2O to 31 degrees and heating it to 32 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a threshold that once passed creates a different, radically more dynamic and useful item.
Although utility scale wind and – far more recently – utility scale solar have led in crossing this threshold in the U.S. and internationally, distributed solar is nearing it. Although it is still more expensive to install than utility-scale PV, the installed costs of distributed solar has been slashed in half since 2008 in the U.S, and this power source has grown from less than a GW of production to nearly 10 GW in late 2015.
One of the companies aiming for ambitious renewable energy targets is long-time SBER Charter Member Cisco; which has led for years in many other areas of sustainable operations. Andy Smith, Cisco’s Global Sustainability Manager, is helping to shape the company’s renewable energy strategy globally and is actively seeking compelling opportunities to power sites with renewable energy in burgeoning international markets like China and India (2016 Update of the SBER Member Briefing International Renewable Energy Markets is available for final Member comment and will be published to Members prior to the SBER Q2 Symposium in Bay Area, CA).
During the March 25th Symposium, Smith discussed how the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) recently revised guidance regarding Scope 2 emissions reporting – which suggests the long-term devaluation of unbundled RECs in favor of grid-proximate, direct investment in renewable energy – has impacted Cisco’s renewable energy purchases, moving the company to nearly double its renewable energy purchases to remain on track to achieve its 2017 goal for a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (SBER Member Briefing on Renewable Energy’s Impact on Sustainability Reporting is available for final Member comment and will be published prior to the SBER Q2 Symposium in Bay Area, CA). As reporting agencies (e.g. GRI, CDP, EPA, etc.) begin to devalue unbundled RECs, Smith noted that the direct purchase of renewable energy is becoming increasingly important to corporates looking to capture the financial, environmental, public relations, and many other benefits of renewable energy procurement.
In summer 2015, Cisco signed its first Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for a 20 MW solar installation that will power its San Jose headquarters for the duration of the 20 year contract term. Ali Ahmed, Cisco’s Global Energy and Sustainability Leader reflected on the project, noting that “enabling a diverse energy supply through low-carbon and renewable sources is key to meeting Cisco’s energy goals set forth in 2013. We thoroughly vetted potential solutions to help us realize our sustainability goals and are thrilled to collaborate with NRG to source renewable energy and increase our use of solar power.” Cisco continues to seek similarly compelling opportunities for renewable energy projects at its sites globally, and is also working with utilities to identify additional opportunities to purchase affordable green power through the grid, as the company already does in North Carolina and multiple European markets.
SR Inc is energized by Member-Clients’ ever increasing interest in renewable energy and looks forward to further examining what those responsible for large corporate operations and real estate portfolios need to know in 2016 about a portfolio-wide approach to renewable energy. Our one-to-one work with multiple Member-Clients to help them develop a portfolio-wide strategy, assess their portfolio for various opportunities, and manage strategy-aligned auctions to drive the greatest value out of rapidly changing renewable energy markets will continue to inform SR Inc’s year-round Strategic Advisory Services for all SBER Member-Clients. Furthermore, it strengthens SR Inc’s ability to provide defining implementation guidance for all SBER Member-Clients’ renewable energy strategies during and after SR Inc’s Summit for Sustainable Operations V December 8th in Washington DC.
Select Relevant SBER Executive Guidance & Tools:
SBER Presentations
SBER Member Advisories
SBER Member Briefings
Jim Boyle is CEO & Chairman of Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. For more than seven years, Jim has led full-time teams of diverse experts assisting world-leading corporations, real estate owners, and federal agencies in their move to greater sustainability. He has led in developing SR Inc’s confidential, industry specific, annual management assessment and recommendation process for more sustainable operations and real estate that is compatible with major public standards globally. Further, he has directed the development of hundreds of pieces of SR Inc original Executive Guidance. Before founding SR Inc, Mr. Boyle advised fast growth technology firms, private equity firms, and institutional investors as an adviser on real estate strategy and implementation, and before that, as a large law firm attorney assisting corporate and investment clients on complex real estate and environmental compliance-related issues. Jim is a graduate of Middlebury College and Boston College Law School, who early in his career served as a federal law clerk and as an aide to John F. Kerry in the U. S. Senate.
As Senior Sustainability Analyst for SR Inc, Kelsey supports research, development and implementation of enterprise sustainability strategies for companies that recognize the business imperative of more sustainable operations in the face of climate change and an increasingly resource-constrained world. Prior to joining Sustainability Roundtable, Inc., Kelsey worked for an environmental/engineering consulting firm where she supported clients including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Green Buildings Council to promote sustainable buildings, clean energy, and safe drinking water. Kelsey also devoted a year to national service with the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, where she worked on team-based conservation and community development projects throughout the Southwest United States. Kelsey has her B.A. in Environmental Studies from Connecticut College.
