TransUnion has secured an 8.5 MW agreement with Constellation to purchase renewable energy equivalent to the annual electricity use of its Chicago headquarters, which will also reduce TransUnion’s emissions associated with purchased electricity (Scope 2 emissions).
Through a 12-year agreement beginning in April 2025, TransUnion will purchase energy and renewable energy certificates (RECs) generated by Swift Current Energy’s Double Black Diamond Solar project in downstate Illinois. Peak construction of the solar project began in March 2023.
In total, TransUnion will procure approximately 17,000 MWh of energy per year from Double Black Diamond, which is expected to reduce the company’s carbon emissions associated with its Scope 2 emissions by more than 8,000 metric tons annually compared to a location-based calculation. This is the equivalent emissions of nearly 1,800 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year, according to U.S. EPA greenhouse gas equivalencies.
“TransUnion is committed to continuing to assess, identify and, where feasible, implement options to integrate environmental sustainability into our global business, and procuring renewable energy is an important step toward realizing our enterprise climate strategy,” says Chris Cartwright, company president and CEO.
TransUnion plans to use the Constellation Offsite Renewables (CORe) product to facilitate its renewable energy transaction. CORe connects customers to the economic and sustainability benefits of large-scale, offsite renewable energy projects and is among Constellation’s suite of retail power products that help customers achieve their carbon-reduction goals.
In 2021, TransUnion set Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction targets for the first time. Since then, the company has made significant reductions through its real estate consolidation and renewable energy purchases.
Eric Lammers, co-founder and CEO of Swift Current Energy, the developer and long-term owner of Double Black Diamond Solar, says: “By purchasing power from the project, TransUnion is also supporting construction jobs in Illinois, as well as U.S. manufacturing jobs associated with the steel foundations, the tracker systems and the solar modules. Double Black Diamond Solar will also provide long-term tax revenue for communities in the state.”
With an estimated total capacity of 800 MW DC, Double Black Diamond Solar will produce electricity sufficient to power the equivalent of more than 100,000 homes from its location in downstate Sangamon and Morgan counties.
