A recent survey of U.S.-headquartered businesses, the majority of which have been active in buying renewable energy, revealed that 72% of respondents are actively pursuing additional purchases.
The appetite among the respondents has grown significantly: 63% of companies have become more inclined to purchase renewable energy in the past six months, according to the survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Among those who have made a purchase in the past, an even larger majority — 85% — intend to make additional purchases in the next 18 months.
Calling the growth in corporate purchases one of the biggest developments in the renewable energy marketplace, PwC said it conducted the survey of 63 “major” commercial and industrial companies, most of which have large energy footprints and have made purchases in the past, to better understand what is driving the growth.
Not surprisingly, what PwC found was that business interest has been primarily driven by a desire to meet corporate sustainability goals and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; 85% of companies actively seeking more renewable energy cited this reason. Other popular drivers included attractive returns on investment, cited by 76% of respondents, and a desire by companies to limit their exposure to energy price variability, cited by 59% of respondents.