Utility disruptor Arcadia, the venture-capital-funded startup that offers a monthly subscription service connecting U.S. renters and homeowners to clean energy through their existing power provider, has announced a pair of agreements with major U.S. firms who will now offer clean energy services as an employee benefit. On Monday, Arcadia announced that Goldman Sachs will offer residential clean energy access to all of its U.S.-based employees.
Clean energy as a workplace benefit has proved a strategic boon for seven-year-old Arcadia in recent months, as millions of American employees working remotely are using more electricity at home, rather than in the office. Last summer, Arcadia formally launched its employee benefits program at a time when one-third of Americans were working from home, and three in five U.S. workers reporting at that time that they would prefer continue working remotely as much as possible. If this trend holds, with fewer workers driving or taking public transportation to work, Arcadia sees an opportunity for companies to reallocate transportation benefits and instead subsidize utility bills as an employee perquisite.
“Most employees are working from home right now, and some will not be returning to the office post covid-19,” said Alexa Minerva, Senior Director of Partnerships at Arcadia. “As home energy consumption increases, we’re eager to start working with businesses on getting their employees access to clean energy that alleviates much of the burden, and at the same time reduces their carbon footprint. As our lifestyles with home energy change, so should employee benefits.”
Arcadia residential energy data showed an average 2 percent increase in energy usage and a 6 percent bill increase for households in 2020, with home electricity use becoming an individual’s greatest contributor to climate change, due to lessened travel during the pandemic.
Opting in
Besides registering for access to clean energy through the Arcadia platform, customers in a handful of states that permit it—Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Illinois, Colorado, Maryland and Maine—can also register for community solar through Arcadia, adding more clean energy to their local grid by routing part of their energy bill through a local solar farm.
While Arcadia integrates with 125 utilities in all 50 states and manages 4.5 terawatt-hours of residential energy demand, it is also the largest manager of residential community solar subscribers in the U.S.
Additionally, businesses that contract with Arcadia have access to sustainability reports that can be used to manage their Scope 3, or “Value Chain,” emissions reporting. These activities represent the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions beyond the control of a company, normally including transportation and travel.
Last week, U.S. biotech Biogen—which was the first Fortune 500 company to commit to becoming fossil-free across all of its operations by 2040—announced that it will cover Arcadia membership costs for all of its U.S. workers, as an employment benefit.
For Biogen employees participating in the company’s Renewable Electricity Opt-in Program, Biogen will cover the cost premium of purchasing 100 percent renewable electricity. The company is aiming for all of its employees to participate in this program by 2030. US-based employees have the option to participate in the Arcadia subscription program, while those in the US and international locations that have already signed up to a 100 percent renewable electricity contract with their home energy supplier can receive a fixed annual reimbursement of $200.
For employees that cannot enroll in renewable electricity programs due to regulatory restrictions, who do not pay their electricity, or that want an alternative to the fixed annual reimbursement, Biogen will purchase and retire 11 megawatt-hours of renewable energy credits, an amount equal to the average household usage.
Arcadia’s most recent funding round, a Series C round in late 2019, was led by industrial technology VC investor G2VP, with participation from infrastructure giant Macquarie Capital, Mitsui USA, growth investor Seek Ventures and ValueAct Capital.
