Wendy’s Partners with Ampion Renewable Energy to Source Community Solar Power

Ampion Renewable Energy has announced a partnership with The Wendy’s Company to help the restaurant chain source renewable energy through community solar projects. Nearly 100 company-operated Wendy’s restaurants and 40 franchise locations in New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts have enrolled in Ampion+, a product that secures renewable energy certificates (RECs) to support renewable electricity generation for local grids.

This agreement will enable the enrolled Wendy’s restaurants to source between 30% and 100% of their energy from solar power without the need for onsite solar panel installations. Wendy’s plans to expand participation in Ampion’s community solar program as more solar capacity becomes available and additional franchise restaurants join the initiative.

Steven Derwoed, Vice President of Global Design & Construction at Wendy’s, stated, “We are excited about the opportunity this partnership provides our company and franchise restaurant operators by making it easier and more accessible to source clean energy while ultimately realizing cost savings. We are advancing progress toward our emissions reduction goals through community solar participation and RECs. It’s a win-win for the company and our franchisees.”

Last year, Wendy’s committed to reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 47%, and Scope 3 emissions from franchisees by 47% per restaurant by 2030, using 2019 as a baseline. Through Ampion, Wendy’s locations have enrolled approximately 27.5 million kWh in community solar, equivalent to the electricity needed for 2,200 homes for one year. Each kilowatt hour will be tracked and assigned to specific restaurant locations via RECs through the Ampion+ product.

Nate Owen, CEO and Founder of Ampion, commented, “As the need for reducing carbon emissions grows, community solar combined with RECs provides a solution for environmental sustainability in the corporate sector that is both achievable and affordable, while enabling companies to quantify and disclose their progress in a standardized manner. This partnership with Wendy’s demonstrates that Ampion can support these organizations in reducing emissions and putting more renewable energy on the grid for local communities.”

Community solar is expanding rapidly in the U.S., with 22 states and Washington D.C. supporting third-party shared or community solar. The Coalition for Community Solar Access reports that 6.6 GW of community solar generation capacity has been installed to date, with projections from Wood Mackenzie indicating that 14 GW will be installed by the end of 2028.

Earlier this year, Ampion surpassed 1 GW of community solar generation under management. Active in nine states, Ampion acquires and manages subscribers of all types, including housing authorities, municipalities, enterprises like Wendy’s, small businesses, and residential subscribers. In 2023, Ampion also acquired thousands of low-to-moderate income subscribers, expanding access to those who need savings the most.