ROCHE EXPANDS ITS COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: PURCHASES ONE WIND TURBINE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY THROUGH PALOALTOGREEN
Palo Alto, CA, October 21, 2004 – The City of Palo Alto Utilities announced today Roche is expanding its ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability by enrolling in the City’s renewable energy program, PaloAltoGreen. Roche’s commitment is one of the largest among corporations participating in PaloAltoGreen.
Roche will support clean, renewable wind and solar power energy equal to 5% of its Palo Alto facilities’ power requirements, 1,800 MWhs. This amount of power is the entire output generated by a large-scale wind turbine. With this commitment, Roche Palo Alto prevents emissions of more than 2.6 million lbs of CO2 entering the atmosphere annually from power generation. The climate impact correlates to planting 315 acres of forest or removing 230 cars from the road for one year.
“As a healthcare group, it is important to Roche not only to care for people’s health and quality of life, but also to ensure that sustainability guides our activities,” said Keith Sonberg, head of site operations for Roche Palo Alto.
“Supporting alternative technologies is at the very core of a sustainable operation. PaloAltoGreen gives us this opportunity by purchasing the equivalent of five percent of our electric power with only a minor budget impact,” said Sonberg
In 2002, Roche Palo Alto formalized its sustainability program, which is built on environmental compatibility, economic viability, and social responsibility. “We have been successful in numerous areas of sustainability, including water conservation and recycling, as well as green engineering and construction for new and retrofit projects,” Sonberg said. “We look forward to similar success with PaloAltoGreen.”
“I am impressed by Roche’s leadership and environmental vision demonstrated through its substantial commitment to renewable energy and sustainability,” said John Ulrich, Director of the City of Palo Alto Utilities. “Roche is one of the largest corporations participating in the PaloAltoGreen renewable energy program and we are very pleased to recognize this contribution.”
Roche will join another PaloAltoGreen corporate participant, Lockheed Martin, as a Partner in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership. The Green Power Partnership is a new EPA voluntary program working to promote green power procurement as part of best practice environmental management.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading innovation-driven healthcare groups. Its core businesses are pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche employs roughly 65,000 people in 150 countries, including 1,000 employees at the Roche campus in Palo Alto. Scientists at Roche Palo Alto are focused on the discovery and development of new medicines to treat serious disorders including Alzheimer’s Disease, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, arthritis, asthma, bladder disorders, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. Roche has alliances and research and development agreements with numerous partners, including majority ownership of Genentech and Chugai.
About PaloAltoGreen
PaloAltoGreen is an award-winning renewable energy program offered to all residential, commercial and industrial customers within Palo Alto as a way to voluntarily support energy generated from 100% clean wind and solar power resources by paying a low additional cost of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. In 16 months, the program has achieved a noteworthy 9.9% enrollment rate due to its 2,667 program participants, including 93 businesses. Ranked number two in the nation in National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s 2004 Top Ten rankings, the City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) is determined to achieve the number one spot this year. CPAU customers can sign up for PaloAltoGreen by enrolling online at http://www.cpau.com/programs/green/app.html or by calling (650) 329-2161.
About the City of Palo Alto Utilities
The City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) is the only full-service municipal utility in California to operate services including electricity, dark fiber, wastewater, natural gas and water. Visit www.cpau.com for more information.
