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Alternatives

Google Executes ‘The Largest Renewable Energy Purchase’ in Corporate History

Tech giant dishes out $2 billion to bring their renewable energy capacity to the equivalent of one million solar rooftops.

By Elijah Owens

Google seems to be on a mission to make the world a greener place.  The company has announced a massive $2 billion deal to purchase and develop new renewable energy generation. Alongside this effort, Google is launching a new grant program to provide assistance to businesses to use renewable energy.

The acquisition is made up of 18 energy agreements spread across the globe that result in an aggregate 1,600 megawatts of energy.A healthy portion of which is coming from brand new renewable energy assets made possible through long-term power purchase agreements funded by Google.

“Once all these projects come online, our carbon-free energy portfolio will produce more electricity than places like Washington D.C. or entire countries like Lithuania or Uruguay use each year,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement.

“Together, these deals will increase our worldwide portfolio of wind and solar agreements by more than 40 percent, to 5,500 megawatts – equivalent to the capacity of a million solar rooftops.”

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The assets are spread around the globe, with approximately half located in Europe, including projects in Finland, Sweden, Belgium and Denmark. The remainder are located in Chile, North Carolina, and Texas. The purchase will more than double the capacity of Google’s global solar assets.

Google also announced two new grants totaling $1 million from the company’s philanthropic branch Google.org, which will help companies fund the development of new sustainable purchasing models, training and resources for consumers.

The effort comes alongside growing pressure from employees to focus on sustainability. Employees from tech giants including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are taking part in a “Global #ClimateStrike”, with planned walkouts protesting a lack of action on climate change from their companies.

Amazon announced similar plans to Google, committing to achieve 100 percent renewable energy in its portfolio by 2030 and net-zero carbon by 2040.

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Home > News > Asset Allocation > Texas Teachers’ Finalizes New Allocation. Shies Away From Equity Markets
Asset Allocation

Texas Teachers’ Finalizes New Allocation. Shies Away From Equity Markets

'New strategic asset allocation opts for stability, resiliency and low volatility.'

By Elijah Owens

The board of trustees Teachers’ Retirement System of Texas has given a final thumbs-up a new strategic asset allocation for the $156 billion fund, as part of a process that mandates the pension’s staff to review and potentially change their strategic asset allocation every five years.

The new policy shaves 3 percentage points off of the pension’s allocation to global equity markets, dropping from 57% to 54% Sub-asset class targets sit at 18% for US equity, 13% for international developed markets, and 9% for emerging markets. They also got rid of a 4% target to directional hedge funds.

Changes in the equity allocation are intended to provide the plan with a new degree of insulation from equity risk. A stock market correction in the near future is a growing concern for investors, as the bull market hangs on beyond historical trends.

Texas Teachers also increased its allocation to alternatives. Private equity, infrastructure, natural resources and energy each saw a 1% increase in their overall targets.  

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Allocations to US treasuries also rose by five percentage points, from 11% to 16%. Risk parity targets increased to 8% from 5%. Cash holdings also rose to 2% from 1%.

The pension is expected to begin implementing the new allocation mix over a six month period beginning October 1.  

The retirement system reported that it missed its 6 and 12-month benchmarks  (3.4% and 6.7%), with returns of 3.2% and 6.4% respectively..

“Global equities continued to rally off a strong first quarter with optimistic trade talks and a looming US rate cute helping boost returns,” TRS CIO Jerry Albright wrote in a report. The highest-performing asset class during the previous 12-month period was treasuries, beating their 12.3% benchmark and returning 12.7%.

The pension has also received its first contribution rate increase in nearly 25 years, as a result of new legislation. Advocates for the bill said it’s “the most positive legislative action for all TRS members in 25 years. The measure will make the pension actuarily sound immediately, rather than over the previously forecasted 87 years.

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