THE WHAT? The Estee Lauder Companies is claiming to be the first prestige beauty company to execute a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) after it signed an agreement for the Ponderosa wind farm in Oklahoma.

THE DETAILS The agreement bolsters the US prestige beauty company’s renewable electricity footprint in the US and Canada and is Lauder’s largest renewable energy contract globally. Under the deal, Lauder will buy the energy produced by 22 megawatts of the Ponderosa wind farm, which equates to roughly 10 wind turbines. Construction of the Ponderosa wind farm is scheduled to start in early 2020.

The Ponderosa wind farm will cover more than half of the company’s global electricity footprint with renewable energy technologies.

“The Estée Lauder Companies is committed to innovating to help achieve a low-carbon future,” said Nancy Mahon, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability of The Estée Lauder Companies. “We’re so pleased to meet our 2020 RE100 commitment for North America early. Projects like the Ponderosa wind farm and others in our Net Zero portfolio are all significant achievements toward our commitments to address climate change.”

THE WHY? The agreement puts the company on track to achieve its global 2020 Net Zero carbon emissions target RE100 commitment.