Wal-Mart buys wind energy supply

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says it has invested in a West Texas wind energy farm that will generate enough power to light 54 of its stores.

The world's largest retailer said Thursday that the Duke Energy farm is being built near Odessa in the Notrees community. The farm is scheduled to start production in April, and Wal-Mart says the electricity it will buy would be enough to light 20,000 homes.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based company has 360 stores in Texas, and the 54 stores represent 15 percent of those properties.

Wal-Mart says it will pay traditional rates for the electricity, but doing so will decrease greenhouse gas emissions and will help the company reach its goal of using only renewable energy sources.

The company says using the wind power will prevent 139,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released each year, which the company likens to taking 25,000 cars off the road.