Posted on February 19, 2019 by Charles F. Becker
It is well known that Des Moines is, among other things, the most popular city for millennial home buyers and, according to Forbes, the fifth best place for businesses and careers. However, these accolades are not the reason for Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Google (“FAMG”) choosing to invest billions of dollars in data centers in the Des Moines area. They are building here because they want to be able to say they are “green” – their services are powered by renewable energy. They can say that because Iowa is the third largest producer of wind energy in the country.
FAMG seem to recognize two fundamental truths: 1) Customers want to purchase from green companies, and 2) renewable energy is cost effective and goes a long way to satisfying #1. In short, environmental awareness means profits.
A 2018 study from Deloitte Resources provides some interesting insights:
1. 69% of businesses said customers are demanding more environmentally considerate solutions – up 7% from one year earlier;
2. 70% said customers are demanding businesses procure at least some of their energy from renewable resources – up 9% from a year earlier; and
3. 79% of businesses actively promote their environmental efforts to their customers – up 5% from a year earlier.
When you combine these statistics with polling that shows 75% of adults ages 18 to 29 say wind and solar power should be a “more important priority” than fossil fuels, the message is clear – satisfied customers mean more green (both environmentally and monetarily).
Moreover, giving customers what they want also makes economic sense. Wind and solar power have received a lot of attention, and made a lot of progress, over the past fifteen years. As a result, the cost of renewable energy is dropping so fast that by 2020 it will be a cheaper source of power than fossil fuels. At the same time costs are dropping, coal-fired power plants are concluding their life cycle. In 2018, 42% of the coal-fired power stations worldwide were running at a loss. By 2030, that number will be 96%.
In the very near future, it won’t really matter whether businesses want to tout their green credentials by saying they use renewable energy because a least cost power system without coal is an “economic inevitability.” The early adopters are just taking credit (and customers) for what’s coming.
Despite the numbers, the President and a significant number of conservative politiciansare doing everything they can to deny climate change, promote coal and increase the cost of renewable energy. The question is why? Certainly the politicians recognize that businesses (i.e. donors) are moving away from coal, so the answer must be something else. Turns out, it’s mostly perspective.
Studies done by the Pew Research Center found that Democratic support for renewable energy is based primarily on environmental protection (it is good for mother earth). Conservative Republicans reject it because it runs counter to a need to support more coal mining/fracking and because environmental solutions do more harm than good. This Republican viewpoint, however, is not universally held. A growing number of Republicans support renewable energy and do so on the basis that it promotes self-sufficiency and is a financially wise decision. When couched in these terms, Republicans have not only been able to switch positions, but have successfully challenged the President’s position on renewable energy and been elected.
My point to all this is not to extol the superiority of Des Moines as a city or to praise the environmental impacts of renewable energy. It is to say that perhaps Democrats have been going about the promotion of renewable energy all wrong. Forget chest beating and yelling “everyone must be green.” That is a position not everyone believes and using it means the people you want to persuade have already stopped listening. Instead, talk about how renewable energy reduces costs, promotes self-sufficiency and is what consumers and businesses want. The side benefit of environmental protection shouldn’t even be mentioned.
There’s nothing wrong with telling someone what they want to hear . . . if it’s true.