Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Forest Claypool, Chicago Park District CEO Mike Kelly, Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) Eugene Jones, Jr., Fleet and Facility Management Commissioner David Reynolds, and City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) leadership today announced their commitment to move their buildings’ electricity use to 100 percent renewable energy by 2025. When implemented, Chicago will be the largest major city in the country to have a 100 percent renewable energy supply for its public buildings. Collectively the City, CPS, the Park District, CHA, & CCC used nearly 1.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2016, amounting to eight percent of all electricity use in Chicago; it is the equivalent to powering approximately 295,000 Chicago homes. The electricity used by these agencies is the same amount of energy created by over 300 wind turbines in one year. The commitment will be met through a combination of acquiring renewable energy credits, utility-supplied renewable energy via Illinois’ Renewable Portfolio Standard, and on-site generation. Initial purchases will begin in 2018 and 2019. Mayor Emanuel announced Chicago’s new commitment on the rooftop of Shedd Aquarium, which has installed over 900 solar panels in an effort to reduce their energy use by 50 percent by 2020. As a member of Mayor Emanuel’s Retrofit Chicago Energy Challenge, Shedd Aquarium has also retrofitted nearly 1,000 of its own light bulbs to LED and installed a 60,000 pound, one-megawatt battery on their own property.