Meijer Gets Into Wind Energy
A mere six months after unveiling its goal to reduce 50% of its absolute carbon emissions by 2025 – and four months after embarking on a solar energy project – Meijer has revealed its involvement in a wind energy center that contributes to the company’s renewable energy portfolio and marks significant progress in meeting its carbon reduction target.
The retailer signed a renewable product purchase agreement with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC, from which Meijer will purchase the majority of energy generated by the project. The project, Lacy Creek Wind Energy Center, is currently being built on 60,000 acres in Texas’ Glasscock and Sterling counties. When completed in late 2022, the center will use 108 wind turbines to generate renewable energy.
The investment in wind energy complements Meijer’s utility-scale solar project, which last March broke ground in Navarro County, Texas, on 1,800 acres of land. Under a renewable energy power purchase agreement with Charlotte, N.C.-based developer Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions, Meijer will purchase a portion of the energy generated by the project for the first 15 years of operation. Both renewable-energy projects will begin generating energy by the end of the year, putting the retailer on track to meeting its carbon reduction goal by 2025.
“As a company, we believe it’s more important now than ever to do our part to better the environment, which is where our ambitious sustainability goal originated,” noted Meijer President and CEO Rick Keyes. “While the Lacy Creek Wind Energy Center is one of multiple sustainability initiatives Meijer has underway, we’re pleased it has contributed to the accelerated progress in meeting our sustainability goal by 2025. The impact these environmental sustainability initiatives will make in the coming years go beyond improving daily operations at our Meijer stores; they align with our values and our continued focus on being a good steward of the environment.”
Approximately 800,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of renewable electricity will be produced annually through the Lacy Creek Wind Energy Center.
“We are pleased to work with Meijer in alignment with their ambitious sustainability goals,” said Matt Handel, SVP of development for Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy Resources. “This project also creates economic stimulus in Glasscock and Sterling counties in Texas, providing good jobs and additional tax revenue.”
Along with these recent partnerships, Meijer continues to build on its long-term commitment to the environment by integrating sustainability into its daily operations, addressing carbon and waste reduction, recycling, offering local and sustainable products, and focusing on responsible growth.
“We believe we have a responsibility to improve the world around us because it’s the right thing to do,” observed Erik Petrovskis, director of environmental compliance and sustainability at Meijer. “Our investment in the Lacy Creek Wind Energy Center is essential to ensuring a positive impact on the environment within the communities we serve across the Midwest and beyond.”
Meijer operates more than 260 supercenters and grocery stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company is No. 20 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food retailers in North America.
