Energy Efficiency
2009 – Home Depot, Inc.
WHEREAS: Rising energy costs and concerns about energy security, climate change and the burning of fossil - fuels are focusing increasing amounts of attention on energy efficiency. The G8 in 2007 committed to take strong and early action to tackle climate change. In the US, domestic regulations addressing the matter continue to gain momentum. Many of these regulations address the energy efficiency of buildings.
According to U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman (in a speech July 16, 2007) "There is also a clear and growing recognition of the role that prioritizing energy efficiency must play. As most of you know, the largest source of immediately available "new" energy is the energy we waste every day. Indeed, it is the cheapest, most abundant, cleanest, most readily available source of energy Americans can access".
The July 2006 "National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency" - developed by more than 50 leading organizations "presented policy recommendations for creating a sustainable, aggressive national commitment to energy efficiency through gas and electric utilities, utility regulators, and partner organizations." The report pointed out that "Widespread application of energy efficiency programs ... would yield annual energy bill savings of nearly $20 billion, with net societal benefits of more than $250 billion over the next 10 to 15 years. This scenario could defer the need for 20,000 megawatts (MW), or 40 new 500MW power plants".
According to estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency, residential and commercial buildings account for approximately 40 percent of energy and 70 percent of electricity consumed in the US each year. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 emphasize energy efficiency resulting in energy, carbon and economic savings. The bill authorizes the Commercial Building Initiative with a goal of all new commercial buildings having a net zero energy usage by 2030.
At the local level, at least 46 state, county and city governments have adopted policies requiring or encouraging the use of the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, which places a heavy emphasis on energy efficiency among other things.
As concerns about rising energy prices, climate change and energy security continue to increase, we believe the focus on energy efficiency will only intensify. For large retail chains this focus will extend not only to stores but also to the supporting distribution and transportation networks. It is vital that our company be well positioned to compete going forward. Taking action to improve energy efficiency can result in financial and competitive advantages. Ignoring this quickly growing trend could position our company as an industry laggard and expose it to competitive, reputational and regulatory risk.
RESOLVED: Shareholders request that The Home Depot assess its current companywide energy use, in its buildings, transportation, and the supply chain, set targets to reduce energy use in the future and report to shareholders (at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information) on its findings and progress by September 1, 2009.