Workday, the AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, is used by more than 11,000 organizations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 60% of the Fortune 500. One of the company’s fundamental values is integrity, which drives Workday to maintain ethical conduct in all its relationships with employees, customers, and the communities it serves. Their commitment to innovation, another company core value, inspires them to pursue collaborative initiatives that accelerate sustainable progress and generate enduring positive environmental impact.

With innovative solutions executed with integrity in mind, Workday's continued investment in renewable energy drives a more sustainable future. “As a technology company, clean energy is critical to powering our operations and progress toward our sustainability goals,” said Erik Hansen, Chief Sustainability Officer at Workday. Since 2019, Workday has sourced renewable energy equivalent to their global annual usage, in line with RE100 criteria, and has a science-based target to continue doing this through FY30.

To ensure the continuation of its renewable energy commitment for the long term, Workday pursued a renewable energy Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) via LevelTen Energy. This partnership builds on Workday’s established leadership in renewable energy initiatives, including participation in the first VPPA deal of its kind in 2019. “At Workday, we recognize that achieving a truly sustainable future requires collective action,” said Hansen. “By signing this VPPA, we not only directly support the generation of renewable energy but also contribute to the broader decarbonization of electricity grids, fostering a cleaner and more resilient energy landscape for all."

AI capabilities are separating businesses into “haves” and “have nots,” and companies like Workday, which integrate AI into their strategic plans, are poised for progress. As AI adoption accelerates, data centers will only become more critical to business operations in the coming years.

Workday is investing now to secure its energy future. In its 2024 Global Impact Report, the company notes: “We engage actively with our colocation data center providers to encourage renewable energy investments that are mutually beneficial, and encourage any new data center to procure 100% credible renewable energy.” In FY25, Workday data center partners provided 44,450 MWh of renewable energy to power operations in Oregon, Virginia, Ontario, Amsterdam, and Dublin. Workday is an active member of CEBA’s Data Center Working Group.

This most recent PPA continues Workday’s legacy of being on the forefront of renewable energy procurement. In 2019, Workday joined four other companies to pioneer the first clean energy deal of its kind. Facilitated by LevelTen Energy, the VPPA brought together an anchor tenant group comprised of Bloomberg, Cox Enterprises, Gap Inc., Salesforce and Workday to form a Corporate Renewable Energy Aggregation Group, which purchased the output of 42.5 MW of the plant’s installed generating capacity. Fern Solar Project in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, reached commercial operation on December 11, 2020.

“Together, we added a significant amount of new clean energy to the grid,” said Hansen. “I’m really proud of how our five companies came together to make this happen, as such collaboration is relatively unique for this type of corporate sustainability investment.”

Workday aims to scale their impact wherever possible, and they join partnerships that enhance environmental innovation and long-term change. They are founders of the Clean Energy Buyers Institute’s Beyond the Megawatt Initiative and signatories of the Principles for Purpose-Driven Energy Procurement. They hope these initiatives will act as a roadmap for developers and corporate renewable energy procurement teams to come together to build projects that respect the land, deliver tangible benefits to local communities, and help us build a resilient and clean grid. By working together with other large organizations, they can bring their purchasing power and demand for renewable energy where they are needed most to maximize carbon avoidance and focus on displacement of fossil fuel resources.

In addition to the environmental benefits, the Concho County PPA also supports social and community benefits. The project is located in an energy community as defined by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The energy community provision provides increased tax credits for clean energy projects located in areas with a history of fossil fuel industry activity, aiming to incentivize a transition to renewable energy in those communities.

The contract includes ongoing financial support for the Renewable Agriculture Inclusion for Underrepresented People (RAIN-UP) program. RAIN-UP provides resources, support, and opportunities for workforce development, and introduces socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers and landowners to the benefits of renewable energy. RAIN-UP was founded by Darrick Eugene at High Road Energy Marketing LLC, a minority entrepreneur-owned, utility-scale renewable energy developer. This PPA is the first program to provide ongoing support to RAIN-UP.

RAIN-UP will use the funding provided by this PPA for its ongoing programs to preserve family land ownership, increase economic self-sufficiency, spark economic development and promote generational wealth. Their strategy includes partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) to promote workforce development and expand the pool of land suitable for renewal development. RAIN-UP will educate these landowners on how to benefit from siting renewable energy projects on their land, including the benefits of agrivoltaics like co-locating PV modules with crops, livestock grazing or beekeeping. The organization will also evaluate a select number of the sites for renewable energy development.

“RAIN-UP’s mission is to identify, evaluate, certify and create a market for socially disadvantaged farmer and rancher land and other potential sites that have been historically overlooked,” said Darrick Eugene, founder of RAIN-UP. “This PPA and the ongoing support of Workday, Starbucks, and our partners will allow us to strategically pursue the highest economic use of these lands while preserving family land ownership and increasing wealth,” he said. “This provision shows Workday’s ongoing commitment to investing not only in the environment, but also helping create a robust economy that maximizes human potential,” Eugene said.

“Workday continues to be a leader in renewable energy procurement,” said Rob Collier, Senior Vice President, Marketplaces at LevelTen Energy. “Given how quickly the market and regulatory picture is changing right now, it took perseverance to get this deal done. We’re proud to be part of Workday’s continued commitment to powering businesses forever forward,” he said.

If you are a buyer interested in how LevelTen can find your perfect PPA or a developer looking to reach those buyers, contact info@leveltenenergy.com.