Renewables Data

1. Prior to 2022, renewables were procured to match the electricity usage associated with the Central Energy Facility. As of 2022, all Stanford locations that align with the university’s full Scopes 2 emissions boundary are included in the university’s 100% renewable electricity commitment, which includes all Stanford owned and operated buildings in North America.

2. Renewables in 2017 reflect a full year of Stanford’s first full year of procurement of 65% renewable electricity credits from its first solar generating station PPA, on-campus solar PPA, and unbundled renewable electricity credits.

3. Stanford reached its goal of 100% renewable electricity through the combination of increased solar PPAs when its second solar generating station came online and further investment in unbundled renewable energy credits in Spring 2023. The first full year of this 100% renewable electricity goal is reflected in 2023.

MWh – Megawatt hour, a unit of energy used to measure the amount of generated or consumed electricity

On-Campus Solar – Refers to solar photovoltaic technology located on the Stanford Palo Alto and Livermore campuses.

Solar PPAs – The university has partnered with photovoltaic (PV) energy companies to create long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), which led to the construction of the Stanford Solar Generating Station #1 in 2016 and the Stanford Solar Generating Station #2 in 2022.  A PPA is when a developer installs and operates a solar energy grid and then sells the power generated back to the customer at a fixed price, allowing organizations like Stanford to receive renewable energy and pricing stability without needing to actively manage facilities.

Unbundled RECs – Due to Stanford’s renewable electricity contracts, the university is able to use renewable energy certificates (RECs) to help achieve its renewable electricity targets while stabilizing its electricity costs. One REC represents 1-MWh of electricity generation and serves as a way to distinguish ownership of the environmental benefits of renewable energy production. Since physical electricity is often distributed on a shared grid, it becomes impossible to trace exactly from where one’s electricity is sourced. RECs allow organizations like Stanford to track their generation of renewable power, even if that electricity was funneled into a shared system.

Utility Grid Renewables – Renewable electricity sourced from the California grid or electricity procured from utility providers.