Amazon is committed to reaching net-zero carbon by 2040, and—as part of that commitment—we’re on a path to powering our operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025. As of today, Amazon has already reached more than 85% renewable energy globally across our offices, fulfillment centers, stores, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers.
We’re proud that Amazon has been the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy every year since 2020—sending a demand signal that also helps to further increase supply. Getting there has required innovation, collaboration, and working closely with utilities in the communities where we operate, and the latest example of this is in Oregon. Recently, we partnered with Umatilla Electric Cooperative (UEC)—the electric cooperative serving AWS in Umatilla and Morrow Counties—to create an innovative solution that safely and reliably powers our data centers in the region and keeps Amazon on a path to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2025.
The agreement allows Amazon to take on the responsibility of selecting the energy supply that powers its data center operations, including from renewable energy resources. UEC continues to be an essential partner and provider of reliable utility service to AWS data centers in UEC's service territory. Amazon’s energy supply from our utilities, combined with our renewable energy procurement across the United States, has enabled several AWS data center Regions—including its US West (Oregon) Region—to be powered with at least 95% renewable energy.
“We’re proud of our work in Oregon, and this new agreement with Umatilla Electric Cooperative is the latest example of how we’re working closely with the community. In addition to AWS investing over $15 billion in the state economy since 2011, and recycling up to 96% of AWS cooling water to provide millions of gallons of water to local farmers each year, we’re now able to directly invest in renewable energy across the Pacific Northwest to help power AWS operations in Oregon. We’re grateful for the collaboration with UEC, which will help us stay on a path to meeting 100% renewable energy by 2025,” said Charley Daitch, director of Energy and Water at AWS.
Historically, utilities have been responsible for sourcing an energy supply for their customers. To enable a faster transition to renewable energy, Amazon has been innovating by working with utilities to directly bring new wind and solar projects onto the grid. For example, in Virginia, we collaborated with utilities and regulators to create a new tariff that allows Amazon to realize the benefits of its renewable projects.
The energy supply agreement with UEC continues Amazon’s efforts to both innovate and collaborate with local groups to decarbonize AWS’s operations. Last year, AWS shared how it partnered with American Rock Products, a 40-year-old construction materials company located in Pasco, Washington, to develop a new, more sustainable concrete mix that will lower the carbon footprint of new data centers in Oregon as well as drive broader innovation to help make construction materials more sustainable. AWS’s infrastructure is also less resource intensive, according to 451 Research analysis, which shows AWS data centers are 88% less carbon intensive compared to a typical on-premises U.S. enterprise data center.
Beyond efforts to lower its carbon footprint in Oregon, AWS has invested in infrastructure that enables up to 96% of water used for cooling hardware to be reused for irrigation. AWS sends the spent water through a separate piping system—returning to local canals where farmers reuse it to grow alfalfa, wheat, and soybeans.
To learn more about Amazon’s renewable calculation, see our publicly available methodology. To learn more about AWS’s sustainability initiatives, visit Amazon’s Sustainability in the Cloud webpage.
