Buoyed by the success - and flattering PR - of recent environmental initiatives, Sam Walton's union-free legacy is exploring renewable energy at some of its stores. A Sam's Club store in Chino, California, recently completed the installation of a 390 kilowatt solar power system, the first of seven such systems to be placed in stores around California. As part of the same deal with SunPower Corporation, it's expected that 22 Wal-mart owned facilities in California and Hawaii will also be going solar.
The installations will provide on average up to 30% of the power needed to operate the store or distribution center, and will also help Wal-mart reduce greenhouse gas emissions by some 8-1000 metric tons annually.
Not surprisingly, Wal-mart is getting a good deal on the pilot installation, taking advantage of a vendor program that allows them to install the equipment without upfront capital costs, while paying a guaranteed rate for the electricity going forward.
So should we be happy that Wal-mart is acting greener and more socially concious, or still a little suspicious because we had to shut down granddaddy's hardware store and go on the welfare when they built that giant store just outside of town? Might take a few more solar panels before everybody falls back in love with the nation's largest retailer.
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