Commercial, Energy Efficiency, Sourcing Renewables - August 14, 2019
Kroger surpasses 2020 electricity savings goal
Kroger’s retail group surpassed its goal to achieve 40% electricity savings ahead of schedule, reaching a 44.9% savings in 2018 and saving more than 2 billion kWh in its stores since 2000.
Kroger's progress was detailed in its 2019 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report. This is the company's 13th annual report on its sustainability progress. "We know our customers, associates, stakeholders and investors care deeply about people and our planet," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO, in his letter to ESG stakeholders. "The world around us is changing too — a warming climate, global population growth, loss of biodiversity, water scarcity and more. These eco-realities affect our collective ability to feed people today and in the future.”
In 2018, Kroger’s total corporate carbon emissions decreased by 11%, which includes a more than 15% decrease in mobile and refrigerant emissions and a nearly 8% decrease in electricity emissions. Normalized carbon emissions — emissions per square feet — also continue to decrease.
In the area of clean power, Kroger’s solar and wind installations collectively generated more than 14.59 million kWh of renewable energy in 2018. The company also has two anaerobic digesters that process organic waste and wastewater and produce renewable biogas as a by-product.
Other achievements highlighted in the report include:
- Kroger's food waste generated by retail stores decreased 9%, reducing both food waste and the greenhouse gases resulting from it.
- In 2018, Kroger completed a significant push on a multi-year LED lighting retrofit project, reaching 2,186 stores by the end of the year. Once fully rolled out, this investment can provide 350 million kWh of electricity savings per year.
SED's View: Kudos to Kroger's Bryan Clark, Corporate Director of Maintenance and Energy for being the driving force behind their ongoing energy efficiency achievements. Developing and executing aggressive plans across a large company takes passion, vision, and leadership.
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