Six Additional Lowe’s Stores To Use Green Power
November 23 , 2004
Lowe’s, the largest purchaser of green power under TVA’s Green Power Switch® program, has added six retail stores in Tennessee and Mississippi as green power subscribers, giving the company a total of 37 stores participating in TVA’s renewable energy program.
In 2002, Lowe’s committed to purchasing green power at every available location in TVA’s service territory. As more local power companies sign up for the program, Lowe’s is making good on that promise.
“Lowe’s is proud to be a leader in the use of renewable energy,” said Lowe’s Vice President of Retail Facilities Management Robin Nickles. “Our commitment to green power reflects Lowe’s core value of operating as a responsible corporate citizen.”
Lowe’s stores are buying more 300,000 kilowatt-hours of green power each month. That has an annual environmental benefit of removing 495 cars from the road or planting more than 750 acres of trees in the Tennessee Valley.
Lowe’s stores in Dickson, Dyersburg, Harriman, McMinnville and Paris, Tenn., and Corinth, Miss., are the latest to join the Green Power Switch® program. These stores are served by Dickson Electric Department, Dyersburg Electric System, Harriman Utility Board, McMinnville Electric System, Paris Board of Public Utilities and Alcorn County Electric Power Association.
“TVA, distributors of TVA power and the environmental community applaud Lowe’s for purchasing more green power than any business in the Southeast,” said TVA Senior Vice President of Marketing Jim Keiffer. “Lowe’s commitment to renewable energy clearly sets a high standard for other businesses.”
Green Power Switch®, offered by TVA and 72 distributors of TVA power, is a renewable energy program that allows consumers to purchase electricity generated from clean sources such as wind, solar power and methane gas. TVA provides green power from 16 solar sites throughout the TVA service area, one wind park in East Tennessee and a methane gas facility at Allen Fossil Plant in Memphis.
Participating distributors of TVA power sell Green Power Switch® to consumers in 150-kilowatt-hour blocks at a cost of $4 per block. Each block is equal to about 12 percent of a typical household’s monthly energy usage. Business and industrial customers buy blocks based on the amount of energy they use.
Currently, more than 7,100 residential customers and 334 business customers are purchasing green power from participating local power companies.
With fiscal year 2003 sales of $30.8 billion, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE® 50 company that serves approximately 10 million customers a week at more than 1,000 home improvement stores in 45 states. In 2004, FORTUNE named Lowe’s America’s Most Admired Specialty Retailer for a second consecutive year. Based in Mooresville, N.C., the 58-year old company is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For more information, visit Lowes.com.
TVA is the nation’s largest public power producer and is completely self-financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve 8.5 million consumers in seven southeastern states.
Media Contact:
Michelle Sherrard
TVA News Bureau, Knoxville, (865) 632-6000
