Businesses increasingly want to buy clean electricity—especially as the fast expansion of data centers powering artificial intelligence pushes technology companies’ power demands to new heights. Unchecked, these increased power demands further threaten the world’s ability to meet climate targets. Whether to meet environmental, social, and governance (ESG) targets, cut costs, or hedge volatility, more companies are seeking to fully address their energy-related emissions.
Companies’ voluntary purchases of clean energy have helped speed the deployment of renewable-energy sources (RES), boost renewables supply chains, and reduce renewables’ costs. Such purchases have contributed approximately 200 gigawatts of capacity from RES over the past 15 years, which accounts for about 10 percent of globally deployed solar and wind.
But how to approach voluntary clean-energy buying and operate clean-energy assets are topics of intense…
