Google environmental profile
Key environmental metrics from the FY2025 sustainability report. Numbers communities cite at hearings.
Key metrics
| Scope 2 (market-based) | 2.8M tCO2e |
| Renewable / CFE claim | 65% CFE |
| Water stewardship | 78% replenished |
| YoY electricity growth | +37% |
| Clean energy signed | 12 GW |
| Avoided emissions | 58M tCO2e |
| Gemini efficiency | 33x vs 2019 model |
What communities have won from Google
Negotiates through PR-friendly commitments — water stewardship pledges, community grants — but its documented concessions came under permit leverage and records-transparency pressure, not goodwill. Shell LLCs and confidentiality are standard practice until approvals are locked, so forcing early disclosure of water and power demands is where the leverage is. (Strategy read, not a sourced fact.)
| Where | Year | What |
|---|---|---|
| The Dalles, OR | 2021-24 | Paid ~$28.5M toward city water treatment and storage, including an aquifer storage and recovery system later transferred to the city, and donated 3.88M gallons/day of purchased water rights. Note what is absent: no cap on its own draw, which reached ~40% of city supply. Source 1 · verified 2026-08-05 |
| The Dalles, OR | 2022 | Dropped its fight to keep water-use records secret after The Oregonian sued; the city had spent 13 months resisting disclosure before settling. Source 1 · verified 2026-08-05 |
What this means for your community
The gap between market-based and location-based Scope 2 emissions shows how much carbon the grid actually emits vs. what the company claims after buying renewable energy certificates (RECs). A large gap means the facility runs on fossil power but papers it over with certificates — your community breathes the actual emissions.