Wendy's Central Florida Restaurants Now Sourcing Renewable Energy from Florida Power Grid

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Nov 15, 2022, 07:15 ET

By the end of 2022, seven Wendy's Restaurants will be powered by solar energy from Duke Energy's Community Solar Program, with an estimated 35 total sites expected to go 100% solar by 2025

DUBLIN, Ohio, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Wendy's Company announced today that seven restaurants in the Central Florida area are now sourcing renewable energy from Duke Energy Florida's Clean Energy Connection program. In early 2023, a total of ten Wendy's restaurants in this region will be powered by solar energy through participation in the program.

Among the inaugural subscribers to the Duke Energy community solar program, Wendy's aims to source 21 Company-operated restaurants with renewable electricity by the end of 2023 and a total of approximately 35 Central Florida restaurants with 100% renewable electricity by 2025, based on Duke Energy's current development plans. Wendy's will source 1,274 kilowatts (kW) of clean energy from the program by the end of this year, ramping up to 6,363 kW by 2025.

"Increasing our sourcing of clean energy is an important component of how we are working to reduce emissions within our System," said Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer Liliana Esposito. "Our partnership with Duke Energy Florida offers a cost-effective and easy way to offset our electricity use with renewable energy credits, while at the same time funding solar power that will benefit local communities."

Duke Energy Florida's Clean Energy Connection program enables customers to subscribe to enough blocks of solar power to offset the entirety of their energy consumption while earning credits toward electric bills. Participating customers will support the operation of ten solar sites, which will produce a total of 749 megawatts (MW) of clean energy upon completion in 2024.

"We are grateful for Wendy's early subscription to Duke Energy's Clean Energy Connection Program," said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president Melissa Seixas. "As one of the project's inaugural subscribers, Wendy's is helping to bring clean, renewable energy to small businesses and areas residents."

This collaboration with Duke Energy contributes to Wendy's larger efforts to reduce emissions and minimize the Company's climate impact, a key element of Wendy's Corporate Responsibility platform, Good Done Right. Wendy's is working to validate and publicly disclose a science-based target covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2023.

To learn more about Wendy's Good Done Right progress and work to reduce the company's energy consumption and emissions, visit https://www.wendys.com/whatwevalue.

About Wendy's

Wendy's® was founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio. Dave built his business on the premise, "Quality is our Recipe®," which remains the guidepost of the Wendy's system. Wendy's is best known for its made-to-order square hamburgers, using fresh, never frozen beef*, freshly-prepared salads, and other signature items like chili, baked potatoes and the Frosty® dessert. The Wendy's Company (Nasdaq: WEN) is committed to doing the right thing and making a positive difference in the lives of others. This is most visible through the Company's support of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption® and its signature Wendy's Wonderful Kids® program, which seeks to find a loving, forever home for every child waiting to be adopted from the North American foster care system. Today, Wendy's and its franchisees employ hundreds of thousands of people across approximately 7,000 restaurants worldwide with a vision of becoming the world's most thriving and beloved restaurant brand. For details on franchising, connect with us at www.wendys.com/franchising. Visit www.wendys.com and www.squaredealblog.com for more information and connect with us on Twitter and Instagram using @wendys, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wendys.

*Fresh beef available in the contiguous U.S., Alaska, and Canada.

About Duke Energy Florida

Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 10,300 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business and at least a 50% carbon reduction from electric generation by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The 2050 net-zero goals also include Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 emissions. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2022 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "America's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

SOURCE The Wendy's Company