Green Power Partnership

Steps to Join Green Power Partnership

Becoming a Green Power Partner is easy (and free)!

Join other leading U.S. organizations that are committed to reducing their carbon footprint and expanding America's renewable energy markets.

Step 1. Determine level of commitment.

Organizations can partner with EPA based on their green power use at a single facility, a logical aggregation of facilities, or all U.S.-based facilities.

Step 2. Calculate annual electricity use.

Using your electricity bill or working with your utility, determine your annual electricity use in kilowatt-hours for your Partnership scope (i.e., facility, group of facilities, or organization-wide). Organizations that have no access to, or control over, their electricity use or billing data (e.g., leased space) can estimate their total electricity use based on square footage. To do so, multiply the total square footage of your chosen scope of Partnership by a factor of 14.9 kilowatt-hours per square foot per year. This is the national average for U.S. commercial buildings of all types.

Step 3. Determine green power usage.

The percentage of green power you need to procure in order to participate depends on how much electricity your organization uses. To join, Partners must procure green power that meets or exceeds the Partnership's minimum usage requirements (see Table 1).

Table 1. Minimum Green Power Use Requirements
Annual baseload electricity usage (kWh) Green Power Partnership minimum requirements Green Power Leadership Club (GPLC) minimum requirements
≥ 100,000,001 kWh 3% of use 30% of use
10,000,001 – 100,000,000 kWh 5% of use 50% of use
1,000,001 – 10,000,000 kWh 10% of use 100% of use
≤ 1,000,000 kWh 20% of use Not eligible

There are a variety of ways to increase one's impact on U.S. renewable energy markets, such as:

  • Procure more green power
  • Enter into long-term green power procurement agreements
  • Procure from not-yet-built projects
  • Take an equity position in new, off-site projects
  • Own or host on-site projects

EPA can assist you in determining what type of green power products best meet your organization's goals. EPA is also available to answer your questions about the procurement process and Partnership requirements, which can help save you time and money.

Additional Minimum Green Power Use Requirements

  • Partners must acquire green power generated from eligible, U.S.-based renewable resources.
  • Partners' green power use must be voluntary and incremental to the renewable electricity included in the standard electricity service.
  • Green power can only be sourced from "new" renewable facilities (i.e., installed within the last 15 years).
  • Partners can meet their commitment with any combination of green power products (i.e., utility products, unbundled renewable energy certificates [RECs], on-site generation, etc.).
  • Only green power use applied to U.S.-based operations is eligible.

For additional information, please refer to the Partnership Requirements.

Step 4. Apply to the program.

Complete the Partnership Agreement.

Please note, in response to the automated message that appears upon opening the Partnership Agreement in MS Excel, you will need to enable macros (the macro contained in the file is safe and has been third-party verified).

New Partners are typically listed on EPA's website within two weeks of submitting their Partnership Agreement.

Step 5. Communicate your partnership.

EPA offers support and guidance to help you effectively communicate to stakeholders and other interested parties the importance of your green power use and status as a Green Power Partner.

After reviewing your completed application, an Account Manager will contact you with information about using the Green Power Partner Mark, examples of ways to promote your partnership and green power usage, and other tools and resources available for Green Power Partners.

Step 6. Annual updates.

To maintain your partnership with EPA, Green Power Partners need to update EPA with their green power usage information. Once per year, the Green Power Partnership program will provide each Partner's primary point of contact with a Partner Yearly Report (Green Power Partner Yearly Reporting Form (XLS)(1 pg, 489 K) ) that summarizes the Partner's most recent green power usage and partnership status on record. Partners must review, update, and return the Partner Yearly Report to EPA.

For additional information on EPA's usage requirements, eligible resources, eligible products, and other requirements, please consult the Partnership Requirements.

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