DaVita hits target for renewable energy use in U.S.; global goal is next

DaVita Inc. is producing enough renewable energy to power all of its North American operations, a goal the kidney care provider originally set for 2022.

Instead, DaVita reached the milestone in October. The Denver-based company contracted with Longroad Energy of Boston to buy power generated by a wind farm and a solar farm in West Texas.

The renewable energy projects produce a total of 625,000 megawatt hours annually, enough electricity to power DaVita’s approximately 2,800 dialysis centers and offices across the country.

“Our focus as we look at this going forward is to be 100% renewable for our global operations by 2025,” said Jim Hearty, DaVita’s chief compliance officer.

Hearty is the executive chairman of the company’s environmental, social and governance standards committee.

DaVita operates in 10 countries outside the U.S. The company has a goal of cutting its carbon emissions in half by 2025, Hearty said. DaVita is working with its suppliers and other partners to set targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

“We’ve identified the largest partners we have from a supply-chain perspective, and we’ve expressed to them the importance of sustainability to us and our desire to partner with them and for them to set sustainability and climate-related goals,” Hearty said.

DaVita is working with the Science Based Targets Initiative, which collaborates with businesses to set emissions reductions goals in line with the Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change.