The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated Florida State University a member of its “Green Power Partnership” on Tuesday, acknowledging the university’s commitment to using clean energy. 

According to the EPA, Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power to reduce the environmental impacts of their electricity use. The program currently has more than 1,300 organizations, made up of Fortune 500® companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and universities, who purchase more than 17 billion kilowatt-hours of green power each year.

“This is a huge honor, and we are proud to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” said Kyle Clark, FSU vice president for Finance and Administration. “Using green power helps our organization reduce air pollution and lower our emissions footprint.” 

FSU has been a leader in technology, innovation, and sustainability since 2017. Since then, the university has made major strides in reducing its environmental footprint, installing 12 solar panels on top of the FSU Sustainability Hub and at the Seminole Organic Garden.  Additionally, FSU is home to an Off-Grid Zero Emission Building, designed and constructed to operate exclusively on solar energy.

According to a press release, FSU is using 40 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, about 29 percent of its electricity use. The university’s green power use is equivalent to the electricity use of nearly 4,000 average American homes annually, according to the EPA.

The university’s green power comes via a partnership with the City of Tallahassee’s solar program. FSU has been participating in the city’s solar program since its launch in 2018. At the end of 2021, the agreement was extended an additional 15 years and expanded to double the amount of annual solar energy capacity available to campus.

The Green Power Partnership program helps increase green power use among U.S. organizations to advance the American market for green power and development of those sources to reduce air pollution and other environmental impacts associated with electricity use.

In 2020, the program included more than 700 partners voluntarily using nearly 70 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually.