Kohl’s continues to stay green

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. Kohl’s announced that for the second time the company holds the top spot in retail on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s quarterly rankings of top green power purchasers in EPA’s Green Power Partnership.

Since the last quarterly rankings were announced in July, Kohl’s has increased its green power purchase by more than 42%. Throughout 2009, Kohl's has purchased more than 851 million kilowatt-hours kWh in renewable energy credits. This purchase is enough to meet 71% of the company’s purchased electricity use, which means that more than 70% of Kohl's energy comes from renewable resources. According to U.S. EPA, Kohl’s green power purchase of more than 850 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding carbon dioxide emissions of nearly 112,000 passenger vehicles per year, or is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power nearly 85,000 average American homes annually. Kohl’s also purchases renewable energy credits in the areas including solar, wind and biomass generation.

Kohl’s also ranks ninth on EPA’s list of Green Power Partners that generate and consume the most green power on-site with 19,126,000 kWh of on-site green power usage from solar. Kohl’s is the world’s largest retail host of solar power with 79 active solar locations in California, Wisconsin, Oregon, Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey. The solar panels generate 20 to 50% of the store’s electricity, depending on geographic location.

For more information on Kohl’s green initiatives or EPA’s Green Power Partnership, visit www.kohlsgreenscene.com or www.epa.gov/greenpower.