Retailer recognized for outstanding commitment to energy efficiency and conservation

Peter Love, Ontario's first Chief Energy Conservation Officer, awarded his prestigious Certificate of Recognition to Mario Pilozzi, President and CEO of Wal-Mart Canada Corp., for the company's outstanding corporate contribution to energy efficiency and electricity conservation. Love made the presentation at Wal-Mart Canada's home office at an assembly of nearly 1,000 company associates.

"Wal-Mart has gone to extremes to save electricity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, truly creating a corporate-wide culture of conservation that Premier McGuinty has urged all Ontarians to adopt," said Love. "The company is promoting a sustainable, stable electricity supply for all of us for the future."

Centralized control of heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) and lighting systems, coupled with high-efficiency equipment, produced results that are 20 per cent to 30 per cent more energy- efficient than the Canadian average for non-food retail outlets. In addition, a "two-thirds" lighting program in 2006, during which the company reduced in-store lighting in Ontario stores by 33 per cent, resulted in Wal-Mart reducing its electricity consumption by 6,000 Mega-Watt hours (MWh), enough to power 500 homes for one year.

In other initiatives, Wal-Mart has purchased almost 14,000 MWh of Green Power in British Columbia, since 2005, equivalent 25 per cent of the company's provincial consumption. In 2006 Wal-Mart expanded its Green Power purchasing program to Ontario, signing a three-year commitment with Bullfrog Power to purchase 39,000 MWh of renewably generated energy, offsetting almost 12,000 tons of CO(2). This remains the province's largest-ever commercial purchase of Green Power.

"The Ontario Power Authority Certificate of Recognition is a great acknowledgement and an encouraging indication that we're on the right path moving forward," said Mario Pilozzi, President and CEO, Wal-Mart Canada Corp. "Energy conservation fits Wal-Mart's big- picture plan by reducing our environmental footprint, showing our customers we care, and reducing our energy bills. Beyond programs like our lighting reduction, we're making positive environmental change throughout our business, from better waste management, to eliminating packaging, to stocking eco-friendly products for our customers."

"Wal-Mart has also been a particularly active participant in our "Every Kilowatt Counts" campaigns, selling hundreds of thousands of compact fluorescent light bulbs in our Spring campaign alone," said Love.