Sep 15 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Blanca Torres Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

 

Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc. plans to buy wind energy to power 270 fuel stations nationwide, 15 stores in San Francisco and its corporate offices in Pleasanton and Walnut Creek.

Safeway, a national food and drugstore chain, partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to buy 78 million kilowatt hours of wind power, making the company the largest buyer of renewable energy in California, said Teena Massingill, a Safeway spokeswoman.

"The purpose is simply to increase the usage of renewable energy," Massingill said. "The means for buying wind energy has recently evolved to a state where we felt comfortable participating in these programs."

The fuel stations are already using the power, and the other locations will begin using it next week. The shift in the source of the power won't require any changes in the way the various locations operate, the company said.

The EPA created a program called the Green Power Partnership to encourage companies to buy energy from renewable sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas and low-impact hydro. More than 600 entities such as businesses, schools and government bodies participate in the partnership.

Safeway had difficulty purchasing wind power in the past because of low supply, Massingill said, but production has increased.

Wind energy accounts for about 1 percent of all the electricity used in the United States, said Christine Real de Azua, a spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association.

Production rates have increased by an average of 24 percent per year since 1999 as more wind farms are built and more people become interested in buying wind power, Real de Azua said.

The industry goal is to bring the usage of wind energy to 6 percent of electricity used in the United States by 2020.

Massingill said Safeway's wind power purchase cost more than buying electricity made from fossil fuels, but the company was able to offset the costs because it has decreased energy costs in other areas. Safeway's newer stores are built to rely more on natural lighting and use subdued lighting that requires less electricity.