PURCHASE, N.Y. – July 30, 2007 – In an effort to extend PepsiCo's sustainability efforts to the supply chain, the three largest Pepsi-Cola bottlers in North America announced today that they are each purchasing renewable energy certificates (RECs) to match 100% of the electricity used by their U.S. operations. Combined, The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc., PepsiAmericas, Inc. and Pepsi Bottling Ventures, LLC are purchasing nearly 629 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of green power annually through RECs. Together the purchases of these three companies would rank second among the largest purchases within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership, behind top-ranked PepsiCo.
Green power is produced from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro. These energy sources are considered cleaner and have a superior environmental profile than conventional sources of electricity. Purchasing RECs helps drive the development of additional green power capacity nationwide.
Today, the U.S. EPA updated each of its top partner lists, highlighting the largest purchasers in the Green Power Partnership. The list highlights EPA Green Power Partners that have completed the largest annual purchases of green power through July 9, 2007 . EPA updates its Top Partner lists quarterly, which are available at http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top25.htm .
Here are specifics about each of the bottlers' purchases:
In April, PepsiCo announced it was purchasing RECs to match more than 1.1 billion kWh of power, becoming the largest purchaser to date under EPA's Green Power Partner program. PepsiCo has maintained that leadership position and remains the No. 1 purchaser on EPA's Top 25 list. Following its own purchase, PepsiCo reached out to the three largest Pepsi-Cola bottlers and encouraged them to purchase green power certificates.
“The purchases made by these three bottlers represent a broader effort by our entire system to work together and continue what PepsiCo started in April with its record purchase,” said Dawn Hudson, president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America. “This represents a collective approach to protecting the environment and becoming more sustainable in the long-term – something our consumers, customers, employees and investors can feel good about. It's all part of PepsiCo's commitment to Performance with Purpose – to do better by doing better.”
“ America is shifting to a ‘green culture,' with more and more businesses understanding that environmental responsibility is everyone's responsibility,” said Marcus Peacock, EPA's Deputy Administrator. “EPA commends the Pepsi bottlers for making a long-term commitment to protecting the environment."
All three Pepsi bottlers are purchasing RECs from Sterling Planet, a leading green power marketer. The bottlers' purchase of certificates will support the development of a combination of wind, small scale hydro electric, biomass, landfill gas, biogas and geothermal resources. Sterling Planet, a leading green power marketer and supplier of RECs, was also the supplier of RECs for PepsiCo's own green power purchase of more than 1.1 billion kilowatt-hours earlier this year.
Based on national average emissions rates, the U.S. EPA estimates that the three bottlers' aggregate purchase of more than 629 million kWh is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power nearly 39,000 average American households annually. Additionally, the combined green power purchase of these three individual companies is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions of nearly 71,000 passenger cars each year.
Additionally, with these purchases, all three bottlers appear on EPA's 100 Percent Green Power Purchasers list and also qualify as members of EPA's Green Power Leadership Club. The “100 Percent Green Power Purchasers” list features organizations that are buying enough green power to meet 100 percent of their U.S. organization-wide purchased electricity use. This list includes more than 330 partner organizations demonstrating environmental leadership – from the largest corporations and government entities, down to some of the smallest organizations and businesses in the United States . The Leadership Club honors Green Power Partners that have made exemplary green power certificate purchases that significantly exceed the minimum Green Power Partnership purchase requirements. EPA's Leadership Club purchase requirements are 10 times the minimum requirements to become a Partner.
About The Pepsi Bottling Group
The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. ( www.pbg.com ) is the world's largest manufacturer, seller and distributor of Pepsi-Cola beverages with operations in the U.S. , Canada , Mexico , Russia , Spain , Turkey and Greece .
About PepsiAmericas
PepsiAmericas is the world's second-largest manufacturer, seller and distributor of PepsiCo beverages with operations in 19 U.S. states, Central Europe and the Caribbean . For more information on PepsiAmericas, please visit www.pepsiamericas.com
About Pepsi Bottling Ventures
Pepsi Bottling Ventures, based in Raleigh, N.C., is PepsiCo's third-largest anchor bottler in the United States, serving a population of more than eight million people in central and eastern North Carolina, New York's Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and parts of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
About EPA's Green Power Partnership
EPA's Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. The Partnership currently has hundreds of Partners voluntarily purchasing billions of kilowatt hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, trade associations, as well as colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower .
To view a complete listing of EPA's Green Power Partners and information about buying green power, visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/ .
For more information on EPA's Top Partner lists, visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top25.htm .
For More Information:
Dave DeCecco
Pepsi-Cola North America
914-253-2655
dave.dececco@pepsi.com