IHG Hotels & Resorts provides community solar offering

IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG) has revealed a renewable energy offering for its hotels in select markets across the U.S. in collaboration with Ampion, a provider of community solar solutions.

IHG is the first hotel company to provide hotels with a community solar offering that includes Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), helping hotels reduce greenhouse gas emissions by accessing renewable energy through solar panel projects built near a hotel’s community, according to the company.

The electricity generated by solar panel projects is fed into the local power grid, and hotels can subscribe to a portion of the projects and will receive both Green-e certified RECs and a discount on their regular electricity bill for the clean energy produced. Through this model, enrolled hotels can credibly claim to be powered by renewable energy while supporting the development of new local solar projects that create jobs and improve the air quality in their communities.

This offering is available in states with legislation supporting community solar, contingent on available capacity. IHG’s community solar offer is currently active for hotels across Illinois, Maine and Maryland, with more states to follow soon. Hotels that have signed up or engaged in the enrollment process represent nearly 30% of IHG’s hotels’ energy footprint in those three states—the equivalent of replacing the electricity usage of more than 5,700 average U.S. homes with renewable energy.

“We are excited to offer IHG-branded hotel owners an innovative solution to help them reduce their carbon emissions at the property level,” said Catherine Dolton, SVP, corporate responsibility/chief sustainability officer, IHG Hotels & Resorts. “IHG’s community solar offering, in collaboration with Ampion, is a win-win for hotel owners due to its cost savings, zero capital expenditure and environmental benefits. This offering is just one of the many ways we’re driving progress toward IHG’s sustainability commitments, which includes reducing our energy use and carbon emissions in line with climate science.”

Joshua Lustig, GM, Crowne Plaza College Park – Washington, DC, added, “Our decision to go live with IHG’s community solar offering at our nearly 300-room hotel is two-fold: we are passionate about being a more sustainable hotel and know we can make a positive impact here in Washington, DC. We are on a journey toward decreasing our environmental impact, and we are proud to support our local community through this offering.”

Nate Owen, CEO, Ampion, said, “Ampion is proud to help IHG hotels reduce emissions with clean energy while saving money. We look forward to expanding this offering to more states and helping more hotels enhance their sustainability. The leadership teams of both companies have worked hard to make this innovative community solar offering a reality. Ampion’s mission is to make renewable energy accessible everywhere, for everyone. We’re thrilled to be partnering with a company that shares our commitment to a clean, sustainable future.”

In markets where community solar projects are not available, IHG hotels can act sustainably in other ways, such as purchasing RECs to negate the emissions produced by their energy use or installing solar panels on their roofs, to name a few. For example, the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta hotel purchased unbundled Green-e certified solar RECs to cover its estimated emissions from its electricity usage for this year. Likewise, IHG purchased RECs to offset energy use at its corporate office and Design Center facilities, both located in Atlanta.