Companies have long been willing to pay a lot of money to attach their names to prominent places. The future home of the New York Mets in Queens will be called Citi Field, after Citigroup. The Academy Awards ceremony takes place at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.
So at a time when most companies are scrambling for a prime seat on the green bandwagon, why not a company-branded wind farm?
John Deere Wind Energy is building an eight-turbine, 10-megawatt wind farm in Panhandle, Tex., that is scheduled to open in May.
Steelcase, the big furniture company in Grand Rapids, Mich., has committed to buying the farm’s entire output of renewable energy credits — the alternative energy version of carbon offsets, usually just called R.E.C.’s — for its first five years of operation. And it is paying a premium — it declines to say how much — for the right to name it the Wege Wind Energy Farm, after Peter Wege, the son of the founder of Steelcase and a prominent environmentalist in Michigan.
Nancy W. Hickey, the chief administrative officer of Steelcase, said both the name and the purchase fit in with Steelcase tradition. Steelcase is well on the way, she said, toward reaching its goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 25 percent by 2012, “and this is another way to help get us there.” Energy credits from the wind farm will offset the equivalent of 20 percent of the power used by Steelcase operations.
Ms. Hickey said the Wege name (pronounced WEGG-ee) is strongly associated with environmentalism, so the naming fits well with the Web-based “Green Giants Campaign” that the company initiated in January to draw attention to prominent environmentalists.
Even without the naming rights thrown in, it is unusual for a company other than a utility to buy all of the energy credits of a project before it is built. But environmental experts say such deals may become commonplace.
“The demand for wind power and for R.E.C.’s is outpacing the supply, so I won’t be surprised to see more companies trying to lock up the renewable energy credits that become available,” said Andrew Winston, an environmental consultant and co-author of “Green to Gold,” a book about environmental marketing.
Environmentalists, meanwhile, are hoping he is right. “After all, the best environmental policies are the ones where there’s a strong economic rationale for doing the right thing,” said Mark S. Brownstein, managing director for business partnerships for the Environmental Defense Fund.
The access to upfront money could also herald a new era for small wind farms, said Elizabeth Salerno, manager of policy analysis for the American Wind Energy Association. “This could really make more communities embrace local wind projects,” she said.
So at a time when most companies are scrambling for a prime seat on the green bandwagon, why not a company-branded wind farm?
John Deere Wind Energy is building an eight-turbine, 10-megawatt wind farm in Panhandle, Tex., that is scheduled to open in May.
Steelcase, the big furniture company in Grand Rapids, Mich., has committed to buying the farm’s entire output of renewable energy credits — the alternative energy version of carbon offsets, usually just called R.E.C.’s — for its first five years of operation. And it is paying a premium — it declines to say how much — for the right to name it the Wege Wind Energy Farm, after Peter Wege, the son of the founder of Steelcase and a prominent environmentalist in Michigan.
Nancy W. Hickey, the chief administrative officer of Steelcase, said both the name and the purchase fit in with Steelcase tradition. Steelcase is well on the way, she said, toward reaching its goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 25 percent by 2012, “and this is another way to help get us there.” Energy credits from the wind farm will offset the equivalent of 20 percent of the power used by Steelcase operations.
Ms. Hickey said the Wege name (pronounced WEGG-ee) is strongly associated with environmentalism, so the naming fits well with the Web-based “Green Giants Campaign” that the company initiated in January to draw attention to prominent environmentalists.
Even without the naming rights thrown in, it is unusual for a company other than a utility to buy all of the energy credits of a project before it is built. But environmental experts say such deals may become commonplace.
“The demand for wind power and for R.E.C.’s is outpacing the supply, so I won’t be surprised to see more companies trying to lock up the renewable energy credits that become available,” said Andrew Winston, an environmental consultant and co-author of “Green to Gold,” a book about environmental marketing.
Environmentalists, meanwhile, are hoping he is right. “After all, the best environmental policies are the ones where there’s a strong economic rationale for doing the right thing,” said Mark S. Brownstein, managing director for business partnerships for the Environmental Defense Fund.
The access to upfront money could also herald a new era for small wind farms, said Elizabeth Salerno, manager of policy analysis for the American Wind Energy Association. “This could really make more communities embrace local wind projects,” she said.
Posted by Liz.
1 comment:
I like this concept. It's a truly American innovation.
I wonder if I can get some local businesses to sponsor the solar panels on my house?!
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