Microsoft announces largest wind energy purchase, and new investments further company\u2019s progress on commitment to creating a responsible cloud, greener grid.<\/p>\n
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Redmond, Washington – November 14, 2016 – Microsoft Corp announces its largest purchase of wind energy to date with the signing of two agreements. Combined, these agreements represent 237 megawatts of wind energy. The transaction brings Microsoft\u2019s total investment in wind energy projects in the U.S. to more than 500 megawatts.<\/p>\n
\u201cMicrosoft is committed to building a responsible cloud, and these agreements represent progress toward our goal of improving the energy mix at our datacenters,\u201d said Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft. \u201cOur commitment extends beyond greening our own operations because these projects help create a greener, more reliable grid in the communities in which we operate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Microsoft has contracted with ART (short for Allianz Risk Transfer) to fix its long-term energy costs and purchase the environmental attributes connected with the new, 178-megawatt Bloom Wind project in Kansas. The project is the first to use a novel structure developed by ART and designed to offset high upfront costs associated with the creation of large-scale wind projects. Microsoft is the first buyer to participate in this structure, which has the potential to bring clean energy projects online at a faster pace.<\/p>\n
Allianz Risk Transfer is the center of competence for alternative risk transfer business within the Allianz Group offering tailor-made insurance, reinsurance and other non-traditional risk management solutions to industrial and financial clients worldwide. Founded in June 1997, this company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE. ART operates through affiliated companies with offices in Amsterdam, Bermuda, Dubai, Liechtenstein, London, New York and Zurich. Its client base spans across all industry sectors and its solutions are most effective for clients facing unusual or complex risks, where traditional (re)insurance or financial products are inadequate. As of today, ART AG is rated AA- by Standard & Poor\u2019s and A+ by A.M. Best.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important for investors in renewable energy projects to secure long-term, stable revenues, and our structure does just that,\u201d said Karsten Berlage, managing director of Allianz Risk Transfer. \u201cWe are thrilled to be partnering with Microsoft on this groundbreaking project.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition, Microsoft has contracted with Black Hills Corp. subsidiary Black Hills Energy, under a long-term agreement, to purchase 59 megawatts of renewable energy certificates from the Happy Jack and Silver Sage wind projects, which are adjacent to Microsoft\u2019s Cheyenne, Wyoming, datacenter. The combined output of the Bloom and Happy Jack\/Silver Sage projects will produce enough energy on an annual basis to cover the annual energy used at the datacenter.<\/p>\n
Black Hills Corp. (NYSE: BKH) is a customer-focused, growth-oriented utility company with a tradition of improving life with energy and a vision to be the energy partner of choice. Based in Rapid City, South Dakota, the company serves 1.2 million natural gas and electric utility customers in eight states: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. The company also generates wholesale electricity and produces natural gas, oil and coal.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur longstanding partnership with Microsoft productively led to this landmark collaboration. This collaboration provided them the opportunity to utilize significantly more renewable energy while still ensuring the reliability they\u2019ve come to expect through our energy infrastructure and generation resources,\u201d said David R. Emery, chairman and CEO of Black Hills Corp. \u201cWe are proud to be a strong supporter and partner in their mission to power their datacenters with increased renewable energy resources, and look forward to our continued collaboration in the years ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Microsoft and Black Hills Energy worked together to create a new tariff, available to all eligible customers, that allows the utility to tap the local datacenter\u2019s backup generators, thereby eliminating the need for Black Hills Energy to construct a new power plant. The tariff received approval from the Wyoming Public Service Commission in July.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are constantly looking for new ways to approach energy challenges and avenues of engagement with our utility partners,\u201d said Christian Belady, general manager of cloud infrastructure strategy and architecture at Microsoft. \u201cThe team worked closely with ART to come up with a completely new model to enable faster adoption of renewables. Likewise, the tight engagement with Black Hills created the opportunity for Microsoft\u2019s datacenter to become an asset for the local grid, maintaining reliability and reducing costs for ratepayers. This kind of deep collaboration with utilities has great potential to accelerate the pace of clean energy, benefitting all customers \u2014 not just Microsoft.\u201d<\/p>\n
These are Microsoft\u2019s third and fourth wind energy agreements, joining the 175-megawatt Pilot Hill wind project in Illinois and 110-megawatt Keechi wind project in Texas. In March, Microsoft also signed an agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia and Dominion Energy Inc. to bring 20 megawatts of solar energy onto the grid in Virginia. These projects are in addition to the renewable and carbon-free energy Microsoft purchases from the grid mix in the markets in which it operates.<\/p>\n
More information about this announcement is in the Microsoft on the Issues blog post by Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith.<\/p>\n
Microsoft announces largest wind energy purchase, and new investments further company\u2019s progress on commitment to creating a responsible cloud, greener grid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[33],"yoast_head":"\n