It’s no secret: We’re working toward important goals to create a more sustainable future for our guests, team members and the planet.
In fact, we’re taking a major step forward by committing to source 100% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The goal, which applies to all of Target’s domestic operations, will help us power our stores, distribution centers and offices even more responsibly. It also builds on the renewable energy goal we made back in 2017.
“At Target, we’ve been on a multi-year journey to operate our facilities more sustainably, and setting this ambitious goal is an important milestone,” says John Leisen, vice president, property management, Target. “We’re proud of the work we’ve already done with renewable energy in our stores, and we’ll continue to explore more opportunities and partnerships to realize this goal.”
We’ll track our progress closely, and we’re already working toward an initial checkpoint of sourcing 60% of our electricity through renewable sources by 2025.
One way we we’ll get there? By investing in projects around the country that produce electricity through renewable resources, like sun and wind. In fact, our latest renewable power purchase agreements will help enable the construction of important sources like the Lone Tree Wind Project in Illinois with Leeward Renewable Energy, LLC, and Sand Fork Solar in Texas with ENGIE. Together, they’re estimated to generate approximately 556,000 megawatt hours of renewable electricity—the equivalent of 280 Target stores annually throughout the United States.
Target is no stranger to working with renewable energy partners to meet our sustainability goals. In 2016, we kicked off our first wind power partnership in Lubbock, Texas. And in 2017, we contracted for approximately 420,000 megawatt hours of wind energy from the Solomon Forks Wind Project near Colby, Kansas, which is expected to come online in the summer of 2019. It all adds up: Today, an estimated 22% of the electricity Target uses to power our business comes from renewable sources.
On top of that, we’ve recently made additional upgrades at our facilities to make them more sustainable. For example, we’re on our way to having rooftop solar panels at 500 of our locations by 2020, and the work has been recognized: Target’s twice been named the top U.S. corporate solar installer, and we’re a four-time ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year. We’re also adding electric vehicle charging stations at over 100 sites across more than 20 states. And the LED lights we’ve added across nearly all of our 1,800-plus stores are reducing energy usage by 10% annually.
And that’s only the beginning: We’ll actively look for more partnerships—and continue to design solutions across our business—for a brighter future.
Published Jun 12, 2019 4pm EDT / 1pm PDT / 9pm BST / 10pm CEST