October 26th, 2008

From the Environmental Protection Agency

The 2008 Green Power Leadership Awards were presented in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference, held October 26-29 in Denver, Colorado.

Partner of the Year

Cisco Systems, Inc. is a multinational company with annual revenues of more than $39.5 billion. Cisco is a worldwide leader in networking technology that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Cisco believes that technology has the power to help the world manage its environmental challenges and is using networking technology to reduce its own environmental footprint. In June 2008, the organization announced a corporate global greenhouse gas reduction goal of 25 percent in absolute terms by 2012, sending a strong message that corporate growth and environmental protection can go hand in hand.

Cisco is using green power both in the United States and internationally as a strategy to meet its greenhouse gas reduction goal. The company’s annual purchase in the United States of 378 million kilowatt-hours of green power is supplied mainly from biomass, wind, solar and small hydro sources. Cisco’s purchase represents nearly 44 percent of its total annual electricity across its U.S. operations, and places the company among the largest buyers of green power on EPA’s National Top 50 list. To support the green power industry, Cisco buys from small and mid-sized suppliers. Cisco plans to increase its green power purchase by 22 million kilowatt-hours in 2009, including various on-site renewable electric systems for its facilities.