Kaiser energy purchase to help meet carbon goal

Kaiser Permanente is committed to growing its renewable energy portfolio with a recent power-purchase agreement.

Photo courtesy of Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif., has made a power-purchase agreement for 180 megawatts (MW) of clean energy that will make it the largest purchaser of renewable energy in the U.S. health care field.

The purchase agreement also allows three renewable energy projects to begin construction this year and will help the health care system to reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2020.

The projects include a 50-MW wind farm that will be built in Arizona, as well as a 131-MW solar farm and a 110-MW battery-storage system, both to be located in Riverside County, Calif. The projects will be built and operated by NextEra Energy Resources. All three are slated to come online beginning in 2020 and wrap up in 2021. However, Kaiser will begin receiving associated renewable-energy credits this year.

Bernard J. Tyson, Kaiser’s chairman and CEO, says the organization’s 2020 goal is linked to its health care mission.

“We are seeing the effects of [climate change] in devastating wildfires, hurricanes and droughts already impacting people’s lives,” he says. “At Kaiser Permanente, we understand that one of the most effective ways to protect the health of the more than 68 million people in the communities we serve is by ensuring healthy environmental conditions.

“By investing in renewable energy and becoming carbon neutral, Kaiser Permanente is helping to prevent climate-related illness for people worldwide,” Tyson concludes.