Wates and Planet First Energy: Putting communities and the planet – first
Wates and Planet First Energy: Putting communities and the planet – first
Less than a year ago, Wates joined forces with the independent social enterprise, Planet First Energy, in a unique partnership to help us reduce CO2 emissions and meet long-term sustainability goals.
Wates’ partnership with Planet First
In that time, we have made great strides towards meeting our target to use only renewable energy for our electricity supplies as well as delivering commercial and environmental benefits while also generating social value.
Two Wates colleagues who were instrumental in developing the partnership with Planet First are David O’Keefe, our Supply Chain and Procurement Director, and Luke Smith, Wates Group’s Sustainability Manager.
It’s our intention to grow our spend in the clean energy sector for heat, power and transport fuels to help reduce our operational CO2 emissions, while supporting energy resilience and the decarbonisation of the UK economy.”
David O’Keeffe
This partnership has increased our procurement of renewable energy by over 70 per cent and it is our aim to have 100 per cent of our electricity supplies from Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO)- backed renewable sources by 2021. This is ahead of our Group target to be Zero Carbon by 2025.”
Luke Smith
Helping Planet First create Social Value
Planet First has supported The South Yorkshire Energy Centre and helped 452 households, saving them shave over £25,000 off home energy bills and creating two new jobs.
The Planet First team volunteers at support drop-in centres and undertakes home visits using their industry knowledge and connections to help make a positive change. They work to meet more people, visit more homes, initiate more projects and help more families in need than ever before.
Planet First is a business supporter of National Energy Action (NEA).
