Iron Mountain optimizes clean energy strategy with RPD Energy, now part of Arcadia

Iron Mountain optimizes clean energy strategy with RPD Energy, now part of Arcadia

Iron Mountain optimizes clean energy strategy with RPD Energy, now part of Arcadia

Use case

Advance environmental stewardship through strategic energy procurement — building on successful emissions reduction initiatives — by sourcing green energy to meet a portion of Iron Mountain’s electric load in Texas.

Challenge

Iron Mountain needed an effective energy procurement strategy that that met key criteria:

• Renewable Energy sourced from a local Texas provider
• Green-e certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) bundled with the generator’s energy
• A competitive price that would allow Iron Mountain to continue to benefit from historically low pricing
• Matching a load profile that varies month-by-month

Solution

As an independent energy advisor, RPD Energy, now part of Arcadia, designed and implemented a comprehensive procurement strategy that aligned Iron Mountain's objectives with market opportunities. Through extensive market analysis and supplier evaluation, RPD:

• Identified NextEra’s Texas-based Blue Summit Wind Farm to supply energy and concurrent Green-e Certified RECs.
• Partnered with TrailStone, a leading wholesale energy trading company, to underwrite a monthly index structure, with an option to fix future prices at any point during the contract term — providing protection against mid-month price spikes.
• Integrated Direct Energy, Iron Mountain’s existing retail electric provider, to match energy delivery to consumption and facilitate billing and settlement.
• Enlisted Tenaska Power Services, a leading trading and wholesale services provider, to manage the wholesale scheduling and settlement of the transaction.

Benefits

This multi-faceted approach demonstrated RPD’s ability to orchestrate complex procurement strategies and partner relationships into streamlined solutions to secure clean, reliable energy in alignment with cost, sustainability, and risk management goals. 

RPD designed a structured agreement that forms an auditable contract and clear scheduling path for delivering renewable energy from a local wind farm to Iron Mountain’s facilities. While the electricity is supplied by Direct Energy, it is directly backed by physical wind power and concurrently generated, certified RECs from the Blue Summit Wind Farm.

• Operational Flexibility: Iron Mountain receives precisely matched renewable power delivery that adapts to their dynamic consumption patterns.
• Streamlined Procurement: Iron Mountain maintains their familiar retail contract structure while gaining access to wholesale renewable energy.
• Risk-Optimized Sustainability: Iron Mountain advances their sustainability goals while mitigating their price risk — without the long-term fixed commitments of traditional PPAs. 
• Innovative Structuring: NextEra gains a new channel to sell Blue Summit’s wind power to corporate buyers, while maintaining reliable revenue streams - expanding beyond traditional power purchase agreements.