Cleartrace Blog

Mandatory Climate Disclosures: Unpacking CA SB 253 and 261

Amidst the flurry of attention surrounding the recently adopted SEC climate disclosure rule, it’s important to step back and consider other recent climate regulations reshaping the corporate climate-related disclosure landscape. Notably, California’s (CA’s) Senate Bill (SB) 253 “Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act” and SB 261 “Greenhouse Gases: climate-related financial risk” have emerged as formidable pillars […]

The SEC’s Climate Vote: Implications for Corporate Carbon Accountability

The Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) voted today (March 6, 2024) to adopt a scaled-back version of its long-awaited proposed climate disclosure rule, formally titled “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” The vote comes two years after the proposed rule’s draft language was released in March of 2022. The final rule, which […]

ESG Regulatory Readiness for the Utility Sector

Utilities need to be ready for the deluge of customer requests and the data to back up green programs and other emerging ESG compliance reporting requirements. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related regulations took huge leaps forward in 2023, and more regulatory progress is anticipated in 2024. The passing of a range of disclosure and reporting […]

Utilities: build electricity infrastructure, partner on data infrastructure

Appetite for clean energy is at an all-time high, with corporations and utilities both racing to meet gigawatt-scale demand to drive grid decarbonization, help companies reduce their carbon footprint, and make progress towards ambitious net zero goals. That appetite – alongside increasing disclosure requirements – is ramping up demand for more granular and auditable data […]

REC Management: When the Challenge is Allocation, Not Acquisition

The growth of markets and registries for Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) have enabled companies to book and claim large amounts of renewable energy (or simply the environmental attributes) in markets different than the ones they are operating in. For utilities and power producers, the creation and trading of RECs has created new challenges that requires […]

Cleartrace and Ever.green Partner to Accelerate Outcome-Based Support of Clean Energy

Partnership Unites Market-Leading Energy & Carbon Analytics with High-Impact RECs & Tax Credits Cleartrace is excited to partner with Ever.green, a leading marketplace for high-impact RECs and clean energy tax credits that help accelerate the transition to renewable energy. The joint offering pairs Cleartrace’s energy tracking and carbon intelligence platform – which uses hourly energy […]

Everything You Need to Know About Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are a critical tool for corporations aiming to reduce their Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. These certificates allow companies to match their electricity consumption with renewable energy generation (one REC represents one megawatt-hour (MWh) of clean energy). While RECs are not a substitute for direct energy reduction or other decarbonization […]

How to Reduce Scope 2 Emissions

After receiving and reviewing over 12,000 public comments by late fall 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is finally set to finalize its much-anticipated rules on climate-focused disclosures in April 2023. In addition, the European Union recently finalized its own Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, which has even more stringent reporting requirements, including for companies […]

Iron Mountain’s Innovative 24/7 CFE Solution Lightens Its Data Center Customers’ Carbon Emissions Load, Serving 100+ U.S. Facilities

24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE) as a strategy is often looked at as near-impossible, or at least unaffordable–but Iron Mountain recently announced a landmark deal that is poised to challenge the skeptics. Iron Mountain’s innovative 24/7 CFE solution for data center customers–in partnership with RPD Energy, Direct Energy and Cleartrace–is providing a strong model, backed by […]

Carbon Data: When Does a Company Need It?

As companies race to build out ESG and sustainability programs to measure their environmental and social impacts and set goals to address them, the critical element to starting their decarbonization journey is good baseline data. Without it, companies are forced to rely on assumptions, estimates and often far-apart observations. But putting systems in place to […]

What’s Right for Your Business: Science-Based vs Net-Zero vs Science-Based Net Zero Targets

As the world continues to set new dangerous global temperature highs and lows, corporations must take action to mitigate climate change. When it comes to measuring (and limiting) carbon emissions, the goals business leaders set are their north star for short-, medium- and long-term action.. That’s why it’s important to understand these goal-setting options, as […]

Advancing Decarbonization through Clean Energy Procurement: Practical Tips from the IEA

Let’s start with the good news. A lot of companies are committing to decarbonization; in fact, over 1,000 companies across a range of sectors have pledged some kind of emissions reduction or climate neutrality goal. Very naturally, the ways in which corporations account for carbon dictate the ways they procure energy, which in turn dictates […]