Jeff Harvey, The Holland Inc.

When Burgerville says it tries to source all its ingredients in the Northwest, Burgerville apparently means it.

Beyond beef, pickles, and seasonal produce, The Holland Inc.has announced a committment to purchasing 100 percent of the electricity for its Burgerville and Noodlin' restaurants from Northwest wind farms.

To power the 41 Northwest retail stores, as well as its corporate headquarters, The Holland Inc. is working with regional utilities to sponsor 13,730 megawatt-hours of wind power annually. Produced by a conventional mix of power sources, this would generate approximately 17.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

“Energy is one of the top expenses we have,” said Jeff Harvey, chief operating officer of The Holland Inc. “When I started looking at what is really fundamental to this company it wasn’t very hard to say, if those are our values and that’s what we believe in, what else could we be doing with that money if we are a company with a commitment to local sustainable business?”

Harvey joined The Holland Inc. in July 2004 with a background in energy services and energy technology. Working with companies to identify the type and amount of energy they were using showed him the value that could be captured by paying attention to energy, he said. And that struck his fancy. “I want to maximize the value to people," he said. "And that translates to food really easily. The value systems become the fundamental base.”

The Holland has contracted with Pacific Power, Portland General Electric, Clark Public Utilities, Columbia River People Utility District, Cowlitz Public Utility District and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) to purchase “green tags,” or credits for using power from wind projects in Oregon and Washington.