The Wendy’s Company announced that seven restaurants in the Central Florida area are now sourcing renewable energy from Duke Energy Florida’s Clean Energy Connection program. In early 2023, a total of ten Wendy’s restaurants in this region will be powered by solar energy through participation in the program.
Among the inaugural subscribers to the Duke Energy community solar program, Wendy’s aims to source 21 Company-operated restaurants with renewable electricity by the end of 2023 and a total of approximately 35 Central Florida restaurants with 100% renewable electricity by 2025, based on Duke Energy’s current development plans. Wendy’s will source 1,274 kilowatts (kW) of clean energy from the program by the end of this year, ramping up to 6,363 kW by 2025.
“Increasing our sourcing of clean energy is an important component of how we are working to reduce emissions within our System,” said Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer Liliana Esposito. “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.”
Duke Energy Florida’s Clean Energy Connection program enables customers to subscribe to enough blocks of solar power to offset the entirety of their energy consumption while earning credits toward electric bills. Participating customers will support the operation of ten solar sites, which will produce a total of 749 megawatts (MW) of clean energy upon completion in 2024.
“We are grateful for Wendy’s early subscription to Duke Energy’s Clean Energy Connection Program,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president Melissa Seixas. “As one of the project’s inaugural subscribers, Wendy’s is helping to bring clean, renewable energy to small businesses and areas residents.”
This collaboration with Duke Energy contributes to Wendy’s larger efforts to reduce emissions and minimize the Company’s climate impact, a key element of Wendy’s Corporate Responsibility platform, Good Done Right. Wendy’s is working to validate and publicly disclose a science-based target covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2023.
