Marks & Spencer to use only green electricity in Scottish stores
Marks & Spencer, one of the UK’s largest high-street retail chains, has agreed to source 100% of the electricity used in its stores and offices in Scotland from local renewable-energy projects, with an eye to expanding the programme across the UK and Ireland.
The retailer signed the deal, which runs from April 2010 through March 2014, with London-based independent power supplier SmartestEnergy.
SmartestEnergy was launched in 2001 by Japanese power company Marubeni as a 'consolidator' of independently produced electricity in the UK.
In late 2008 it launched its ‘flexible’ renewable-energy retail service, which allows customers to specify the exact percentage of green electricity in their power mix. More than 300 companies have since signed on to receive 100% green electricity.
The decision to flow only green juice through its Scottish stores comes as part of Marks & Spencer’s broader environmental campaign. It already buys renewably generated electricity from several small-scale producers, and recently announced it will begin trialling electric-vehicle charging points in a handful of stores near London.
Published: Friday, November 27 2009
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