Energy offset and renewable power developer Arcadia pitches clean power as an employee benefit – TechCrunch

Arcadia, the company that gives homeowners and renters a way to offset their carbon footprints through renewable energy credits and clean power developments, is now pitching its services to businesses as an employee benefit.

Companies can offset their employees carbon footprints or subsidize their power bills using Arcadia’s services, the company said. It’s a response to the millions of Americans who are now working from home rather than going in to an office and an acknowledgement that office perks look different when the office is a living room couch, dining room table or bed.

Because commuter benefits and office amenities like free coffee, snacks, sodas or whatever have become as nonexistent as a competent U.S. government response to a global pandemic, companies are trying to come up with new ways to make employees happy (even though folks are lucky to be employed right now).

Energy usage that spikes in offices in the summer have now been distributed to homes around the country, according to data cited by Arcadia, which means that workers will be eating the cost of increased cooling bills that would have been borne by their corporate offices.

For workplaces that opt in to the new potential benefit for employees, Arcadia can either buy renewable energy credits to offset an employee’s emissions or it can take pay for that employee’s energy usage by acquiring blocks of renewable power from energy markets around the country.

The company has already signed up a few marquee customers, including McDonald’s, which is using the service to offset employee’s emissions (but not paying for their power).  

“We’re thrilled to partner with Arcadia on this new initiative,” said Emma Cox, manager of North America Sustainability at McDonald’s, in a statement. “Getting the program up and running is incredibly easy and enables us to empower our employees that are no longer in the office, and is consistent with McDonald’s goals in reducing carbon emissions.”