Source: Houston Business Journal
Nine Houston retail stores and two distribution centers will now be powered by wind energy after Half Price Books signed an agreement with Green Mountain Energy Co. for 30 Texas stores and other facilities.
Dallas-based Half Price Books, the nation’s largest family-owned new and used bookstore chain, will power the locations with 100 percent wind power for the next three years, or about 11.3 kilowatt hours annually.
The move earned commendation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after Half Price Books’ purchase ranked fourth on the list of largest renewable energy retail power purchases in Texas, behind Whole Foods, FedEx Office and H-E-B Grocery Co. It’s also the second-largest retailer to provide 100 percent renewable energy to all of its Texas locations, behind Whole Foods.
“Half Price Books has long been a supporter of the environment, even going so far as to include ‘be kind to the environment’ in its official mission statement,” said Kathy Doyle Thomas, executive vice president. “Making the switch to Green Mountain just made sense to us in order to continue to do what we can to help the environment.”
The estimated 15 million pounds of CO2 offset by the green energy is the equivalent of planting more than 900,000 trees or recycling 6 million pounds of newspaper, according to Half Price Books.
