Ahold USA Snags EPA Green Power Leadership Award

Ahold USA has received a 2015 Green Power Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The annual award recognizes leading green power users for their commitment to helping advance the development of the nation's voluntary green power market.

EPA presented the Carlisle, Pa.-based grocer with the Green Power Purchasing Award at the 2015 Renewable Energy Markets Conference, in Arlington, Va., on Oct. 19. Combined, Ahold USA and its four regional divisions –– Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop New York Metro, Giant Landover and Giant Carlisle –– are employing enough green power to meet 8 percent of the company’s electricity use.

The Green Power Partnership encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with purchased electricity use. The partnership currently has more than 1,300 partner organizations.

"Ahold USA and our retail divisions are committed to energy efficiency and environmental stewardship, with the goals to reduce our carbon footprint 20 percent by the end of this year and to achieve zero waste company-wide by 2020," noted Marissa Nelson, the company's SVP of responsible retailing. She added that "our efforts to build more efficient stores and implement resources that enable us to generate renewable energy [are] an important component of our commitment to being a better and greener neighbor to the communities where we operate."

Further, Ahold USA ranks 34th on EPA’s National Top 100 list, sixth on the Top 30 Retail list, and 23rd on the Top 30 On-site list. Each list spotlights EPA Green Power Partners using the most renewable energy annually as of July 6. EPA issues quarterly updates of its Top Partner Lists.

According to the EPA, Ahold USA's current green power use of nearly 158 million kilowatt-hours equates to the electricity use of almost 15,000 average American homes over a year.

Next year, as part of its renewable and clean energy portfolio, Ahold USA is slated to complete construction of its first anaerobic digester, at the grocer's Freetown, Mass., distribution center. The zero-waste solution will use existing transportation distribution systems to generate clean, sustainable power.

Ahold USA supports four regional divisions that together operate about 770 supermarkets with 115,000 associates in 14 states and the District of Columbia along with online grocer Peapod.

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