That's All Wells and Good

Wells Fargo becomes biggest corporate buyer of clean energy

Banking giant Wells Fargo announced yesterday that it has bought renewable-energy certificates to offset 40 percent of its current electricity usage over the next three years. Amounting to 550 million kilowatt hours of wind power a year, it is the largest-ever corporate purchase of renewable energy in the U.S., beating out previous record-holder Whole Foods Market's purchase of 458 million kilowatt-hours earlier this year. The country's fifth-largest bank estimates that it will be preventing 380,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year. "The more you can help produce renewable energy sources, the less dependent we will be on oil and natural gas, which could in turn lower energy prices," says a Wells Fargo corporate properties director. And the good PR ain't too shabby either.