- Between April 2020 and June 2021, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) suffered “critical fire or arc flash events” in at least six of its 47 North American sites with solar installations, affecting 12.7% of such facilities, CNBC reports citing unpublished documents.
- “The rate of dangerous incidents is unacceptable and above industry averages,” an Amazon employee wrote in one of the internal reports.
- By June 2021, Amazon took off every U.S. operation with solar. Amazon had to design, install and maintain properly before “re-energizing” any of them.
- Amazon blamed third-party partners and vendors for the most significant problems uncovered by the auditor, Clean Energy Associates (CEA), and other teams working on facilities and sustainability initiatives.
- In 2021, CEA informed Amazon of one critical and 259 significant findings across Amazon’s rooftop solar portfolio, including mismatched module-to-module connectors, improper installation of connectors, poor wire management, and evidence of water intrusion in the inverters.
- Amazon devised a two-part plan to help prevent future breakdowns in the rooftop solar program.
- In late 2021, the divisions requested $3.6 million in funding to reinspect sites with significant findings.
- Internal teams also began to urge Amazon leadership to rely more on salaried employees and less on outside vendors.
- Job openings suggest Amazon is still seeking to hire people internally for solar operations.
- Amazon’s rooftop solar powered 115 of its fulfillment centers across the globe by the end of 2021.
- Amazon would lose $940,000 million per month, or $20,000 for each of the 47 decommissioned North American sites, as long as the solar remained offline. There could be additional costs for Amazon, depending on the contracts.
- Price Action: AMZN shares traded lower by 0.24% at $127.51 in the premarket on the last check Friday.
Loading...
Loading...
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
