Press Room

Whole Foods Becomes Largest Wind Power Backer (Excerpt)

Natural-food grocer Whole Foods Market Inc. said Tuesday it was buying environmentally friendly wind energy credits to offset all of the electricity it uses — making it the largest corporate user of renewable energy in the United States.

The company, based in Austin, Texas, said it is purchasing 458,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy credits a year — enough to power 44,000 homes annually — from Renewable Choice Energy of Boulder, Colo.

The decision follows the publicly traded company’s mission of environmental stewardship without losing sight of the bottom line, Whole Foods regional president Michael Besancon said. “It’s a sales driver rather than a cost,” he said. “All of those things we do related to our core values: help drive sales, help convince a customer to drive past three or four other supermarkets on the way to Whole Foods.”

Read the full article at msnbc.com.