- Based on current projections, GM has reached its goal of
securing enough renewable energy to power all of its U.S. sites by
2025
- As one of the earliest adopters of renewable energy among
corporate purchasers, GM has already realized positive cash flows
from its portfolio, and expects to continue to do so
- GM's long-term investments in local renewable energy
projects support grid resiliency, as well as job growth and
retention
DETROIT, Oct. 26,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors today announced
the finalization of energy sourcing agreements required to secure
100% of the energy needed to power all its U.S. facilities by 2025.
This is in line with the accelerated target announced in
September 2021, which is 5 years
ahead of the 2030 target announced in early 2021 and 25 years ahead
of the initial target of 2050, set in 2016.
By achieving this accelerated goal, GM expects to avoid the
production of an estimated 1 million metric tons of carbon
emissions that would have been produced between 2025 and 2030,
equal to the emissions produced by burning 1 billion pounds of
coal.
"We believe it is critical — to ourselves, to our customers
and to the future of the planet — to step up our efforts and
reach ambitious targets that move us closer to a more sustainable
world," says Kristen Siemen, GM
chief sustainability officer. "Securing the renewable energy we
need to achieve our goal demonstrates tangible progress in reducing
our emissions in all aspects of our business, ultimately moving us
closer to our vision of a future with zero emissions."
Sourcing renewable energy is a critical component of GM's plans to
decarbonize. The company's renewable energy strategy is rooted in
four pillars:
- Increasing Energy Efficiency: GM's energy goals
begin with reducing energy consumption by improving energy
efficiency. For 11 years, GM has been awarded the EPA Energy Star
Sustained Excellence Award for its energy efficiency efforts.
- Sourcing Renewables: While it works to minimize the
amount of energy required to run its facilities, GM also sources
renewable energy through direct investment, on-site generation,
green tariffs and power purchase agreements. This is the main way
through which GM is achieving its renewable energy goal.
- Addressing Intermittency: GM is creating technology
to store renewable energy over the medium and long term, so its
power consumption is not disrupted by external fluctuations.
- Policy Advocacy: Policy efforts are essential to
expand transmission, create microgrids that help deploy renewable
energy and enable markets to price these solutions to enable a
carbon-free resilient power system. GM supports policies that
enable a carbon-free, resilient power system.
GM's renewable energy portfolio now includes sourcing agreements
from 16 renewable energy plants across 10 states, continuing to
lead all automotive OEMs as the largest offtaker of renewable power
in the industry. Since 2017, the portfolio has also produced over
$75 million of positive cash
flows.
In 2019, GM became a founding member of what is now known as the
Clean Energy Buyers Association — the largest group of
corporate renewable energy buyers in the U.S. CEBA brings companies
together to unlock market access, helping organizations of all
sizes find cost-effective pathways to buying renewable energy.
"General Motors has been a trailblazer in corporate clean energy
procurement for manufacturing facilities for over a decade," said
Miranda Ballentine, CEO of the Clean
Energy Buyers Association. "Today's announcement of securing the
energy needed to achieve their 2025 goal is another example of
their leadership. But even more impressive has been GM's commitment
to sharing their learnings and guiding other corporations who want
to follow their lead. In a world of high competition, this
community-orientation is truly wonderful."
In 2021, GM announced its Science Based Targets for emissions
reduction, as well as plans to become carbon neutral in its global
products and operations by 2040. In addition, the company plans to
eliminate tailpipe emissions from new U.S. light-duty vehicles by
2035. GM has committed to invest $35
billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025,
with plans to reach more than 1 million units of annual EV capacity
in each of North America and
China by the end of 2025.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is a global company focused
on advancing an all-electric future that is inclusive and
accessible to all. At the heart of this strategy is the Ultium
battery platform, which will power everything from mass-market to
high-performance vehicles. General Motors, its subsidiaries and its
joint venture entities sell vehicles under
the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac,
Baojun and Wuling brands. More information on the
company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global
leader in vehicle safety and security services, can be found
at https://www.gm.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking
Statements: This communication and related comments
by management may include "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. Forward-looking
statements are any statements other than statements of historical
fact and represent our current judgement about possible future
events. In making these statements, we rely upon assumptions and
analysis based on our experience and perception of historical
trends, current conditions, and expected future developments, as
well as other factors we consider appropriate under the
circumstances. We believe these judgements are reasonable, but
these statements are not guarantees of any future events or
financial results, and our actual results may differ materially due
to a variety of important factors, many of which are described in
our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other filings
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We caution
readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made,
and we undertake no obligation to update publicly or otherwise
revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events, or other factors that affect the
subject of these statements, except where we are expressly required
to do so by law.
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SOURCE General Motors Co.