Nov. 3, 2009 (Business Wire) -- Kohl’s Department Stores announced today that for the second time the company holds the top spot in retail on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) quarterly rankings of top green power purchasers in EPA’s Green Power Partnership. Kohl’s, recently named the greenest retailer in America according to Newsweek magazine's Green Rankings, also ranks third overall and third among Fortune 500 companies in the Partnership, which includes some of America’s largest green power purchasers.

Since the last quarterly rankings were announced in July, Kohl’s has increased its green power purchase by more than 42 percent. Throughout 2009, Kohl's has purchased more than 851 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) in renewable energy credits. This purchase is enough to meet 71 percent of the company’s purchased electricity use, which means that more than 70 percent of Kohl's energy comes from renewable resources. According to U.S. EPA, Kohl’s green power purchase of more than 850 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding carbon dioxide emissions of nearly 112,000 passenger vehicles per year, or is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power nearly 85,000 average American homes annually.

“Green power purchases are one of the easiest and more important ways we can implement renewable energy sources as we work to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Ken Bonning, Kohl’s executive vice president of store planning and logistics. “We continue to increase our purchases that are applied companywide, and we hope to reach 100 percent green power in the coming year. This is just one more way we continue to operate as an environmentally responsible company.”

According to EPA, green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources like wind and solar. These resources generate electricity with a net zero increase in carbon dioxide emissions. Kohl’s purchases renewable energy credits in the areas including solar, wind and biomass generation.

Kohl’s also ranks ninth on EPA’s list of Green Power Partners that generate and consume the most green power on-site with 19,126,000 kWh of on-site green power usage from solar. Kohl’s is the world’s largest retail host of solar power with 79 active solar locations in six states – California, Wisconsin, Oregon, Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey. The solar panels generate 20 to 50 percent of the store’s electricity, depending on geographic location.

"EPA commends our leading Partners for their continued commitment to protecting the environment by using green power," said Ann Bailey, Acting Director of the Climate Protection Partnerships Division at EPA.