News Type: Press Release

3Degrees was recently named the 2017 Best Trading Company in Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) – North America for the 4th year in a row by Environmental Finance magazine. These awards honor the expertise and ingenuity of the leading brokers, traders and intermediaries in environmental markets worldwide and are based on a survey of customers and peers.

“It is an honor to be recognized once again by our partners, customers and peers and a testament to the hard work, integrity and creativity of our entire team,” says Scott Eidson, vice president of environmental markets. “Our work – and the work of everyone in our industry – is key to continuing to our ongoing fight against climate change.”

3Degrees offers products and services across the globe and it is our extensive industry knowledge and focus on high-touch customer service that keeps hundreds of energy suppliers and buyers returning to 3Degrees each year. “In today’s volatile markets, our steadfast focus on building strong relationships that create value has served our partners extremely well,” says Eidson.

3Degrees recently celebrated our 10 year anniversary and has transacted more than 130 million megawatt-hours of renewable energy. Overall, this is the sixth time 3Degrees has earned a top designation by Environmental Finance readers in this category.

Top academic minds join high caliber community of renewable energy leaders

From left to right: Bhuvan Neema, Michelle Davis, Krisztina Pjeczka, Josh Constanti, Kayla Kutter, Jaydeep Laljani, Taylor Price, and Nitish Garg

In partnership with Net Impact, OneEnergy Renewables and 3Degrees are thrilled to announce the 2018 class of Energy Scholars.

The Energy Scholar program, now in its seventh year, is designed to cultivate and empower tomorrow’s renewable energy leaders through professional mentoring, networking, and industry access. The goal of the program is to foster a new generation of skilled and experienced professionals to take on the fight against climate change.

“We congratulate the 2018 Energy Scholar awardees and look forward to supporting their contributions toward an equitable new energy economy,” said Jennifer Barnes, vice president of operations & communications at OneEnergy Renewables. “We are also thrilled to have partnered with our long-standing friends at 3Degrees this year.  OneEnergy believes that with both companies working together, the Energy Scholars will enjoy even more career opportunities and experiences.”

The Energy Scholar Program recipients comprise students from esteemed institutions such as Duke, UCLA, University of Michigan, and Yale across the spectrum of renewable energy industry needs, including sustainable energy policy, power system modeling, and renewable thermal technologies.

“We are enjoying getting to know this diverse and talented class of Energy Scholars.” said Adam Capage, vice president of corporate and government affairs at 3Degrees. “Their impressive academic achievements, coupled with steadfast commitment to growing the renewable energy industry makes us optimistic about the future.”

Net Impact, OneEnergy Renewables and 3Degrees would like to congratulate the exemplary dedication these students continue to demonstrate and look forward to seeing the impact they will make on the renewable energy sector.

“Net Impact is so proud of our continued partnership with One Energy Renewables during the last several years!” said Liz Maw, Net Impact’s CEO. “This year, we deepened our shared commitment further, cultivating emerging-generation renewable energy leaders through the Energy Scholars program. By expanding our partnership to include 3Degrees, another pioneering organization focused on transitioning towards a low-carbon economy, as well as including the topic of racial diversity at the Energy Scholars conference session, collectively, we’re accelerating our future energy industry leaders in key, relevant ways. We look forward to many more years of working together for a more sustainable world.”  

To learn more about the Energy Scholars program, click here  and here.

Projects to generate 290 megawatts of clean energy, enough to power 74,000 homes

Apple, Akamai, Etsy and Swiss Re today announced an agreement to develop two new wind and solar energy farms in Illinois and Virginia. Spearheaded by Apple, the new projects will generate 290 megawatts to the PJM electric grid serving much of the Eastern United States, including areas of Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. The two new projects will provide enough power for 74,000 homes and will support each of the companies’ operations.

Akamai, Etsy and Swiss Re previously had limited opportunity to access large renewable energy projects in the regions covered by the thirteen state PJM wholesale electric market. By collaborating with Apple, these companies were able to access wind and solar power from the new projects at competitive prices and agreement terms. Collaborations like this accelerate the pace at which new renewable energy generation is built and brought online.

The group, with technical assistance from 3Degrees, will collectively purchase 125 megawatts from a wind farm near Chicago and 165 megawatts from a solar PV project outside Fredericksburg, Virginia, which will be delivered to the electric grid covered by the PJM wholesale electric market. The projects are expected to come online over the next two years. The solar and wind projects will be developed by sPower (an AES and AIMCo company) and Geronimo Energy, respectively.

“At Apple, we’re proud to power all of our operations around the world with 100 percent renewable energy,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “In the process, we’ve charted a course for other companies and organizations to purchase renewable energy and transition their own operations to greener power. The collaboration announced today shows how companies of all sizes can address climate change by coming together.”

“Etsy is excited to be a part of a project that will benefit both the planet and our customers,” said Rachel Glaser, Etsy Chief Financial Officer. “This agreement will help Etsy to meet our goal of powering operations with 100% renewable electricity while also innovating by paving the way for small companies to participate in the renewable energy market.”

“We are proud to be partnering with these corporate leaders to accelerate renewable energy adoption. For Akamai, this collaboration was critical in closing these deals; and, in conjunction with our Texas wind project signed last year, we are on target to achieve our 2020 global renewable energy goal,” said Jim Benson, Akamai EVP and CFO.

“As a leader in mitigating climate risk, Swiss Re aims to reduce its carbon footprint and support renewable energy, which is why we’re so happy to be part of this collaboration,” said Brian Beebe, Head of Origination North America, Weather and Energy, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. “We also hope to speed up the adoption of these clean technologies through Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ innovative insurance products, which help owners of wind and solar assets decrease cash flow uncertainty.”

“We commend Apple’s leadership in this collaboration between them, Akamai and Etsy. Without this group of forward-thinking companies this project would not be a reality,” said Ryan Creamer, CEO of sPower.

About Akamai
As the world’s largest and most trusted cloud delivery platform, Akamai makes it easier for its customers to provide the best and most secure digital experiences on any device, anytime, anywhere. Akamai’s massively distributed platform is unparalleled in scale with over 200,000 servers across 130 countries, giving customers superior performance and threat protection. Akamai’s portfolio of web and mobile performance, cloud security, enterprise access, and video delivery solutions are supported by exceptional customer service and 24/7 monitoring. To learn why the top financial institutions, e-commerce leaders, media & entertainment providers, and government organizations trust Akamai please visitwww.akamai.com,blogs.akamai.com, or @Akamai onTwitter. For more information about Akamai’s renewable energy program please visit our sustainability site.

About Etsy
Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. Our mission is to keep commerce human, and we’re committed to using the power of business to strengthen communities and empower people. We connect millions of buyers and sellers from nearly every country in the world. Buyers come to Etsy to be inspired and delighted by items that are crafted and curated by creative entrepreneurs. For sellers, we offer a range of tools and services that address key business needs.
Etsy was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.

About Swiss Re
The Swiss Re Group is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient. It anticipates and manages risk – from natural catastrophes to climate change, from ageing populations to cyber crime. The aim of the Swiss Re Group is to enable society to thrive and progress, creating new opportunities and solutions for its clients. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1863, the Swiss Re Group operates through a network of around 80 offices globally. It is organised into three Business Units, each with a distinct strategy and set of objectives contributing to the Group’s overall mission.

About sPower
sPower, an AES and AIMCo company, is the largest private owner of operating solar assets in the United States. sPower owns and operates a portfolio of solar and wind assets greater than 1.3 GW and has a development pipeline of more than 10 GW. sPower is owned by a joint venture partnership between The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES), a worldwide energy company headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, one of Canada’s largest and most diversified institutional investment fund managers. For more information, visit www.sPower.com.

• Bank of America Commits to Long-Term REC Purchases from the Project
• GE’s Wind Integrated Solar Energy (WiSE) Technology Platform used to Maximize Energy Production
• Venture Illustrates Potential of Hybrid Solutions to Accelerate Penetration of Renewable Energy

Juhl Energy announced today that it has selected GE Renewable Energy (GE:NYSE) to supply equipment for the first commercial integrated solar-wind hybrid power generation project in the U.S.  The Minnesota-based clean energy company has developed the 2.0MW community-based renewable energy project to provide low-cost, locally generated energy to the Lake Region Electric Cooperative of Pelican Rapids, Minn.  Bank of America (BAC:NYSE) has provided necessary financial support for the project, agreeing to purchase the project-generated Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), in line with its environmental goals.  3Degrees facilitated the connection between Juhl Energy and Bank of America.

“Distributed generation will play a major role in the implementation of renewable energy in the U.S. electrical market in the years to come,” said Dan Juhl of Juhl Energy. “Projects such as this one, with Juhl Energy’s package design and GE hybrid technology, will economically blend clean, renewable energy into the electric grid at a lower cost, plus add reliability to the system.”

“This unique renewable energy project will provide a tremendous amount of value to the local community. The cost savings from purchasing the hybrid project’s energy will help provide rate stability, benefiting all of our co-op members,” stated Tim Thompson, CEO of Lake Region Electric Cooperative.

The project will use one 2.0-116 wind turbine from GE Renewable Energy’s Onshore Wind business supported by 0.5 MW of PV solar.  The innovative project utilizes GE’s Wind Integrated Solar Energy (WiSE) technology platform – developed through GE’s Global Research Center – to directly integrate the solar panels through the wind turbine’s converter so both wind and solar share the same balance of plant, increasing system net capacity by 3-4 percent and annual energy production by up to 10 percent. The hybrid design gives these type of projects the ability to produce power when it is most needed, with the solar essentially providing summer peak energy, and the wind providing winter peak energy.

Pete McCabe, president and CEO, Onshore Wind, GE Renewable Energy, said, “By leveraging the complementary nature of wind and solar, this unique project shows how GE is driving technology innovation that will help customers deliver more renewable energy in an even more efficient manner.”

Bank of America’s purchase of the RECs from the project long term will cover the bank’s electricity usage in the state and will contribute to its 2020 environmental operations goal of purchasing 100% renewable electricity.

“Accelerating the path to a sustainable future starts with creative thinking and projects that can help drive more low-carbon energy solutions in our communities,” says Alex Liftman, Global Environmental executive at Bank of America. “Through supporting innovative renewable energy projects like this one, we continue to enhance our commitment to reduce our operational impacts on the environment.”

The project will be owned by a subsidiary of Juhl Energy that pools together capital from the company and outside private investors. Juhl is further partnering with Faith Technologies, Inc., to construct the project and collaborate on building additional hybrid projects.   Faith Technologies, Inc. is a national leader in electrical planning, engineering, design and installation that is headquartered in Menasha, Wisconsin and has regional offices throughout the country.  This project will be operational before year end 2018.

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About Juhl Energy

Juhl Energy is an established leader and pioneer in the renewable energy industry with a focus on competitive, clean energy solutions, including wind, solar, hybrid systems and heat/power projects designed for rural communities, municipal electric companies, and industrial companies throughout the United States.  Juhl Energy has completed 25 projects, accounting for over 350 MW’s of power.  Juhl services every aspect of development from general consultation, engineering, construction and management, to system operations and maintenance.   Juhl Energy is headquartered in Chanhassen, MN, and has other offices in Chicago, and Milwaukee. 

About GE Renewable Energy

GE Renewable Energy is a $10 billion business with an innovative spirit and entrepreneurial mindset, bringing together one of the broadest energy products and digital services portfolios in the renewable energy industry. Combining onshore and offshore wind, blades, hydro and innovative technologies such as hybrid systems and concentrated solar power, GE Renewable Energy has installed more than 400+ gigawatts capacity globally to make the world work better and cleaner. With more than 22,000 employees present in more than 80 countries, GE Renewable Energy is working on new ways to power the world’s biggest economies and more remote communities. 

About Bank of America

At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact.