Seven The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) restaurants in Central Florida started sourcing renewable energy from Duke Energy Florida’s Clean Energy Connection program.
The company announced on Monday the number of Wendy’s restaurants in the region powered by solar energy will increase to 10 in early 2023. The short-term goal extends beyond that to 21 company-operated restaurants pulling renewable energy by the end of 2023. Ultimately, the end goal is for 35 restaurants in the region with 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025.
“Increasing our sourcing of clean energy is an important component of how we are working to reduce emissions within our system. Our partnership with Duke Energy Florida offers a cost-effective and easy way to offset our electricity use with renewable energy credits, while at the same time funding solar power that will benefit local communities,” said Liliana Esposito, chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer for Wendy’s.
Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK), owns 10,300 megawatts of energy capacity. Additionally, it supplies electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.
Duke Energy is Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. It’s one of the largest energy holding companies in the United States, serving 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. It also collectively owns 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity.
The Wendy’s Company is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio. The company shifted its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio in 2006. Wendy’s went public in 2008 after it merged with Triarc Companies, which also owns Arby’s.
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Duke Energy lets customers offset energy consumption
The Duke Energy program lets customers subscribe to enough solar power blocks to offset their energy consumption while acquiring credits towards their electrical bills. Continued participation supports ten solar sites and a total of 749 megawatts (MW) of clean energy in 2024.
“We are grateful for Wendy’s early subscription to Duke Energy’s Clean Energy Connection Program. As one of the project’s inaugural subscribers, Wendy’s is helping to bring clean, renewable energy to small businesses and areas residents,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president.
The collaboration with Duke Energy is part of Wendy’s larger goals regarding reducing emissions and the company’s climate footprint. This is a key part of Wendy’s corporate responsibility platform, Good Done Right. The company is also working to publicly-disclose a science-based target regarding scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions in conjunction with Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2023.
Wendy’s intends to source 1,274 kilowatts (kW) of energy by the end of 2022, increasing to 6,363 kW by 2025.
