Apple aims to supply itself with renewable energy
Apple aims to meet all of its US energy needs via the development of its own solar, energy and wind energy sources, having recently obtained a federal designation for its energy subsidiary. To this end, Apple has agreed to pay $848m for electricity from California Flats over the next 25 years, a solar farm currently under construction, receiving the site’s total energy output by the end of the contract. A spokesman for the company said that Apple would prefer not to have to develop its own technologies to meet its renewable targets, however as the public energy grid is still very dependent on fossil fuels, this is not possible.
In one ambitious venture, Apple has contracted with First Solar to begin buying a little less than half of the power later this year from California Flats, a solar energy farm now under construction. Under the terms of the deal, Apple will pay $848 million for the electricity over 25 years and receive the farm’s total output by the end of the agreement. It is one of largest commercial clean energy contracts yet.

Lisa Jackson, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency who is now the Apple executive overseeing environmental policy, social initiatives and worldwide government affairs, said she hoped Apple could serve as a model for the many other big corporate power users that are now embracing clean energy.

“This is just another sort of innovative way to get that power onto the grid so we don’t have to take the California grid-mix default, which still includes fossil fuel,” Ms. Jackson said.

Although much of Apple’s manufacturing is done offshore, it still has extensive needs for electric power in the United States — and not only for the sprawling new corporate campus it is building at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., and its 270 retail stores around the country.

One of Apple’s biggest demands for electricity comes from operating the computing cloud through which it sells apps, music and videos to users of its iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.