A new Microsoft solar project shows how climate and racial equity are getting connected

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4 years ago

August 12, 2021

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A Bronx rooftop with a view of Manhattan in the distance is covered with solar panels. As climate and racial justice are connected, ESG experts say more clean energy projects and jobs need to come to neglected urban communities.

DON EMMERT | AFP | Getty Images

Climate crises across the country — record heat waves, wildfires and flooding — have pushed climate to the forefront of corporate agendas. At the same time, companies are being held accountable for their actions to fix systemic racism at the community level. The two goals may seem distinct, but a new Microsoft renewable energy deal demonstrates that as the ESG industry develops, the environmental and social mandates shouldn’t stay in their siloes. Environmental injustice and racial injustice have always been connected in the real world, and should be in the realm of corporate ESG as well.

Microsoft announced in mid-July a solar energy partnership with Volt Energy, a Black-owned solar energy development firm, to supply Microsoft with 250 megawatts of solar power. It’s just one small power purchase agreement in the technology giant’s pledge of using 100% renewable energy by 2025, but it stands out not only for being done with a minority-led firm, but in being structured so that a portion of the profits are used to develop renewable energy sources in underserved communities across the United States.

The deal was Microsoft’s first utility-scale solar power purchase agreement with an African American energy solar development firm.

Big Tech’s climate commitment

Microsoft is already a leader in environmental initiatives from waste elimination to carbon removal, joining Big Tech peers Apple and Alphabet and more recently Amazon who are all heavily invested in climate technology, whether to power their own energy-intensive data centers or for transportation needs, as in the case of Amazon.

Microsoft’s overarching climate pledge goes one step further than most corporations though, promising to not just become carbon neutral but remove all the carbon from the environment that the company has emitted either directly, or by electrical consumption, since it was founded in 1975, by 2050.

“This is another example of them continuing to push the boundaries of what environmental leadership and leadership overall looks like for companies,” said Alison Omens, chief strategy officer at JUST Capital, ESG research specialist, which ranked Microsoft No. 1 among corporations in 2021, a position it has consistently held in the rankings. “Microsoft is doing a good job of thinking about the connection point between equity and environmental justice,” she said. “We cannot think about these things in silos.”

Bringing climate tech to underserved communities translates to high-paying green jobs, healthier air, and increased investment in those neighborhoods.

Tim Boyle | Getty Images News | Getty Images

“They’re not in this for charity,” said Nathanael Greene, a senior renewable energy advocate at the National Resource Defense Council. “They’re in this to make money, so this tells us that renewable energy is winning in the marketplace.”

That marketplace increasingly needs to represent all of America, including long neglected rural and urban communities of color.

“Developing community-based, renewable energy projects and related initiatives take time, and we are focused on doing the work to help ensure we are successful,” said Noelle Walsh, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s cloud operations and innovation group.

Racial equity and climate justice

Following the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, discussions on racial inequities were ignited throughout corporations across the country. The larger history linking environmental justice and racial justice tracks a map of 20th-century environmental pollution that tended to be most acute near low-income communities and communities of color including majority Black, Native American, Latinx and Asian American areas, as well as an environmental non-profit movement that grew in size and scope but lacked diversity.

Microsoft and Volt Energy executives declined to provide details on projects being developed under the partnership, but bringing renewable energy sources to underserved communities signals an important step towards investing in the environment at the intersection of fighting racial inequities.

In the late 1960s, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, growing concerns emerged around the inequity of environmental protection for communities of color across the U.S. In the 1980s, toxic solid waste sites were often located in low-income communities, often with majority Black, Native American, Latinx and Asian American residents, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Racial inequities like this persisted into the 1990s when an executive order was signed in 1994 by the Clinton Administration, dedicating federal funding to improve environmental and health conditions for minority and low-income communities.

“It is critically important that clean energy infrastructure and economic development investments are made in underserved minority and rural communities that have been disproportionally impacted by environmental injustices and lag behind in the health and financial benefits of the thriving clean energy economy,” said Volt Energy’s co-founder and CEO Gilbert Campbell in a statement at the time of the deal’s announcement. “It is equally important to provide access to the business and job creation benefits of the clean energy movement.”

The intersection of the environment and racial justice is an issue where leading ESG researchers and ESG investment activists are beginning to develop metrics. On Wednesday, shareholder advocacy group As You Sow released its first environmental racism scorecard for S&P 500 companies (Microsoft was No. 1). As You Sow views the metric as important in holding companies accountable for environmental harm even if they are making progress — and touting — diversity efforts, such as in hiring. The racial justice scorecard include indicators specifically focused on environmental racism through tracking of corporate environmental violations, fines, and penalties since 2015.

Scoring environmental harm

Andy Behar, CEO of As You Sow, said the new ESG metric stood out for a bad reason: the number of companies that ended up with a negative score when their progress on diversity was measured against their environmental harm.

“Environment violations, money paid in super fund sites, toxins dumped in communities of color … 39 of the S&P 500 don’t make it to zero,” he said. “We’ve never had a scorecard where we had to visualize negative numbers. It describes the situation really on the ground. They are doing more harm than they are able to make up for with positive hiring, donations to communities of color.”

Among those S&P 500 laggards are many oil and gas companies, as well as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which is facing increased ESG scrutiny.

ExxonMobil scored a negative 23%, placing it last. One example cited by As You Sow was the section of Beaumont, Texas, where 95% of the residents are African American and an ExxonMobil refinery releases at least 135 toxic chemicals.

The Exxon Mobil Beaumont Polyethylene Plant stands following Tropical Storm Imelda in Beaumont, Texas, U.S., on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019, which brought flooding that threatened refinery operations.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

“When we are in a conversation with a Chevron [Chevron was not in the bottom 10, ranking 350 out of 500 companies] or whoever, we’re saying you are not only failing on climate but get a negative score on racial justice, and you can’t have climate justice without racial justice, and this data actually shows that, and will be part of next year’s shareholder resolutions,” Behar said.

Diverse energy leaders

“After George Floyd, a lot of Silicon Valley companies took a hard look in the mirror and said they needed to invest in more diverse entrepreneurs and more diverse companies, but I haven’t seen a whole lot of progress there,” said Donnel Baird, CEO and founder of BlocPower, a climate technology start-up based in Brooklyn, New York, that is focused on energy efficiency retrofits for urban buildings.

BlocPower, which ranked No. 47 on the 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, has completed over 1,000 projects in the New York City area, and is expanding its projects in 24 other U.S. cities. The Urban Green Council estimates a $20 billion market and well over 100,000 jobs created by 2030 in the NYC-metro area alone, and business models like Bloc Power’s retrofitting in underserved communities translates to high-paying green jobs, healthier air, and increased investment in those neighborhoods.

Baird’s firm has received a $50 million investment from Goldman Sachs, as well as investments from Salesforce Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, who all came together in the middle of a pandemic to fund the early-stage company.

“I think there’s a moral and ethical for business leaders to invest in green infrastructure,” Baird said, but he added, “Goldman Sachs is investing $50 million to our company to invest in green buildings and low income communities. They’re not doing that for PR. They’re doing it because it’s a great story and they’re going to make money.”

Baird gives Microsoft credit for leading the charge in corporate America by making substantive investments in communities that need environmental justice initiatives, but he said all technology companies can go further. They can diversify their sustainability supply chains, and as more companies invest in carbon offsets as a way to meet their ambitious carbon-neutral targets in the years ahead, he said companies should invest in renewable energy credits in the streets of Chicago, Seattle and low-income communities instead of in the Brazilian rainforests, where there is less corporate accountability.

He recently told CNBC the road for Black founders in the energy sector is still one beset by bias, which he learned firsthand in fundraising, and George Floyd won’t change that quickly enough.

“We talked to 200 investment firms before the first yes. It was no on no for months on end,” Baird said. “The same people investing before George Floyd are the ones who are investing after. I believe intentions are real, but deep in the heart of hearts, they are just looking for the 19-year-old Stanford or Harvard dropout who has been doing coding since age 10. It’s pattern recognition.”

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Elon threatens to rage quit Tesla if he doesn’t get his $1 TRILLION payday

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6 hours ago

October 20, 2025

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Elon threatens to rage quit Tesla if he doesn't get his TRILLION payday

Elon Musk implies that he’ll quit his part-time job as CEO of Tesla (TSLA) if he doesn’t get his $1 trillion pay package. On today’s episode of Quick Charge, I suggest GM’s Mary Barra should replace him, and explore some of the compelling EV deals out there looking to take a bite out of Elon’s market share.

In addition to my take on what the TSLA board should or shouldn’t decide, we’ve got a pile of EV lease deals, some hot, upcoming new electric Jeep models, and a look at some of the ways the end of the Federal EV tax credit isn’t the end at all.

Quick Charge is brought to you by Climate XChange, a nonpartisan nonprofit working to help states pass effective, equitable climate policies. The nonprofit just kicked off its 10th annual EV raffle, where participants have multiple opportunities to win their dream model. Visit CarbonRaffle.org/Electrek to learn more.

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Tesla dominates Q3 fast-charger growth – but rivals are closing in

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6 hours ago

October 20, 2025

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Tesla dominates Q3 fast-charger growth – but rivals are closing in

Volvo Tesla Supercharger — Photo: Volvo Car USA

The US added more than 4,000 new DC fast-charging ports in Q3 2025, pushing the total past 64,000. The country’s EV infrastructure keeps maturing, despite new station openings slowing slightly this summer.

US DC fast-charging ports expand past 64,000

According to EV charging data platform Paren’s latest “State of the US Fast EV Charging Industry Report,” the number of public DC fast-charging ports climbed to 64,486 across 12,375 charging stations nationwide in Q3 2025. That’s despite a modest slowdown in new openings: Operators added 699 new stations, down 12% from Q2, and 4,061 new ports, down 7.7%.

Paren says the dip mirrors seasonal trends seen in 2024 and expects growth to rebound in Q4, with early October data already coming in strong. The company still projects the US to add around 16,700 new ports by the end of 2025. Notably, larger charging stations are becoming the norm: 27% of all stations now have eight or more stalls, up from 23% last quarter.

Tesla dominates new ports, and the market widens

Tesla led Q3 deployments with 1,820 new ports – nearly 45% of all added nationwide. ChargePoint (300), Red E (215), Electrify America (164), and EV Connect (146) rounded out the top five. But Paren notes that smaller and regional operators collectively accounted for 21% of new ports, demonstrating how the market is diversifying.

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Every state added at least one new fast-charging station this quarter. California again led the pack with 108 new sites, followed by Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois. Upstart network Ionna, formed earlier this year by seven automakers, opened 12 new stations with 132 ports. At the same time, Michigan-based Red E jumped to third place after expanding across 18 states, including new sites at Aldi supermarkets.

Summer travel lifted fast charging demand

The summer travel season drove EV charging activity higher across almost the entire US. Fast charger use increased in 45 states, stayed flat in one, and dipped in five. Maine saw the biggest bump (+1.9 in utilization growth), followed by Montana (+1.8), New York (+1.8), and Oregon (+1.8), all reflecting busier tourism routes and expanding highway and corridor buildouts.

Paren also found signs that Tesla’s opening its Supercharger network to non-Tesla EV drivers is shifting behavior. Some non-Tesla charging stations saw slight utilization declines, suggesting a growing number of drivers are switching to Tesla’s network for convenience.

It’s all about reliability and upkeep

Paren’s “reliability index” measures charger reliability, taking into account recent successful charge sessions with and without retries, failed charge attempts, and station downtime over a specific time period.

Reliability based on Paren’s definition inched up again, from 92.1% to 92.3%. Thirty-two states improved their reliability scores this quarter, while 15 declined and four held steady. Oklahoma showed the biggest improvement (+4.4), though it still ranks last overall at 73.3%. Mississippi (91.1, +2.6) and Idaho (92.1, +2) also made solid gains, while Rhode Island (88.2, -2.7) and Alaska (96.3, -1.9) saw declines.

Paren says reliability now depends less on geography and more on operator performance, site age, and proactive maintenance. With more federally and state-funded chargers coming online, the focus is shifting from buildout to upkeep. Operators investing in preventive maintenance, faster outage response, and top-quality software integration will be best positioned to keep drivers happy.

Average fast-charging prices rose by a penny

Nationwide average pricing rose by a penny in Q3 to $0.49 per kilowatt-hour, with most states falling between $0.48 and $0.54. Hawaii remains the priciest at $0.85/kWh, while Nebraska is the cheapest at $0.42/kWh. Several charge point operators offered summer discounts and promotional rates, but Paren found no clear link between lower prices and higher use.

A few states saw notable price swings: Alaska jumped $0.04, while Arkansas dropped $0.05 and Hawaii fell $0.07. The jury’s still out on whether rates continue rising post-summer; that will depend on wholesale electricity costs, demand trends, and competition among networks.

Electrek’s Take

Paren’s Q3 snapshot shows a maturing charging market: slightly slower but steady growth, improving reliability, and broader competition. Tesla’s Superchargers are still leading the pack when it comes to the volume of new ports being rolled out. Still, the fast charging landscape is expanding with more regional players and multi-port hubs with both NACS and CCS capability across the map. A big priority now is to keep those chargers working and affordable as more people switch to EVs.

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Toyota is testing a mysterious new crossover SUV

Published

7 hours ago

October 20, 2025

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Toyota is testing a mysterious new crossover SUV

Is it electric? A hybrid? A new Toyota crossover SUV was spotted testing out in public rocking a unique look.

New Toyota EV crossover and SUVs are coming soon

Toyota is gearing up to launch a series of new battery electric (BEV), hybrid, and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles over the next few years in nearly every market.

In the US, Toyota currently offers just one fully electric vehicle (excluding the Lexus RZ), the bZ (formerly the bZ4X), but that will soon change.

Toyota plans to offer seven fully electric vehicles by mid-2027, including under its luxury Lexus brand. Joining the updated bZ and Lexus RZ next year will be the smaller C-HR crossover and more rugged bZ Woodland SUVs.

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Shortly after, it will introduce two electric SUVs that Toyota will build at its plant in Kentucky. Although Toyota has yet to announce it publicly, the new electric SUVs are expected to be based on the RAV4 and Land Cruisers. They will replace the Lexus ES in Kentucky, while the next-gen EV version will be exported to the US from Japan.

Toyota-new-bZ4X-C-HR+-Urban-Cruiser-EVs — From left to right: Toyota’s new C-HR+, bZ4X, and Urban Cruiser electric SUVs (Source: Toyota Europe)

In Europe, Toyota will launch the updated bZ4X, CH-R+, and Urban Cruisers by the end of the year. Three additional crossovers and SUVs are set to follow in 2026.

While we already know what most of those will looks like, the new crossover SUV doesn’t appear to be any of them. The spy photos from SH Proshots (via Autoevolution) show what looks to be the next-gen Toyota Venza, or the Harrier for those outside of the US.

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You can tell it’s a bit taller and less aerodynamic than the electric crossover SUVs that Toyota showcased earlier this year.

The Venza was a bit of a step up from your average Toyota SUV with a more premium feel, but it was discontinued after the 2024 model year to make way for the Crown Signia.

Although Toyota has yet to reveal anything about the next-gen Venza, rumors suggest it will be built on the TNGA-K platform, which underpins the new RAV4. The platform is designed to open up interior space with a lower center of gravity.

Inside, you can expect to see Toyota’s latest Audio Multimedia system, which also debuted in the new RAV4. The setup includes a standard 10.5″ smartphone-like touchscreen infotainment or you can upgrade to the larger 12.9″ screen.

Given Toyota has yet to publicly announced the next-gen Venza, powertrain options is still up in the air. The report speculates it will arrive as a self-charging hybrid or plug-in hybrid (PHEV), or both.

Since it’s still in its early stages, the new model isn’t expected to launch until 2027. It could arrive as a 2028 model year in the US.

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