Acadia Infrastructure Capital, a specialized clean energy investment platform, announced the launch of the Climate and Communities Investment Coalition (CCIC), with Microsoft as an anchor member.
The mission of the CCIC is to help corporations support clean energy projects that provide community benefits in the United States. The CCIC is projected to facilitate the construction of at least 5 GW of renewable energy projects over 5 years. Collectively, these projects will help prevent approximately 15 billion pounds of carbon from entering the atmosphere per year and generate enough energy to power over 850,000 homes.
The CCIC is designed to contribute to corporations' environmental and sustainability goals by supporting clean energy projects, including the purchase of environmental attributes. Projects enabled by the Coalition are focused on enhancing community benefits through members' renewable energy investments. Benefits include expanding access to sustainable infrastructure and healthy environments, advancing economic inclusion, and building capacity for community organizations.
"The CCIC seeks to offer its member corporations the 'triple win' of clean energy, improved earnings, and real-world impact," noted Acadia Infrastructure Managing Partner Tim Short. "While we are just getting underway, the CCIC already has a record to build on with the recent closing of our first project, in Texas. We envision similar deals spurring billions of dollars in clean energy investment in the coming years."
"The CCIC program provides us opportunities to meet our goals through high-quality renewable energy procurement. This initiative is supported by the Sustain Our Future Foundation, which is dedicated to transforming sustainable development to maximize equitable community benefits and achieve environmental justice," said Danielle Decatur, Director, Environmental Justice at Microsoft.
"The CCIC represents a powerful and collaborative commitment to confronting a legacy of environmental injustices while advancing clean energy solutions. Our team will help deliver meaningful, lasting benefits to community stakeholders," said Yinka N. Bode-George, Founder and CEO of Sustain Our Future Foundation.
Acadia has begun recruiting additional corporations to join the CCIC as a platform for mutual learning and collaboration on climate infrastructure.
"The CCIC helps US corporations meaningfully scale the real-world impact of their clean energy programs," said Dr. Brian O'Callaghan, Vice President at Acadia. "This initiative demonstrates how corporate actions can crowd-in other sources of capital to support a low-cost, reliable, and secure US energy system."
"Acadia was founded to offer innovative investment structures tailored to the unique goals of our partners," noted Short. "We believe the CCIC will be a standout platform for driving a just energy transition. We're grateful to Microsoft for joining with us to launch this effort, and we look forward to announcing many more corporate members as this work advances."
