Electrical distributors are among a host of suppliers facing a rising chorus of demands from customers to prove their green commitment. Announcements this week of efforts to document the environmental impact of supply chains came from IBM, Armonk, N.Y., and a fairly new association built specifically to address the utility industry supply chain.

The Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance (EUISSCA), Kansas City, Mo., has developed a strategic plan calling for voluntary industry initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the supply chain. EUISSCA, which includes more than a dozen large electric utilities including Ameren, Duke Energy, Exelon, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and Xcel Energy, said a survey it conducted last year found that only 20 percent of the 240 industry suppliers polled measure their GHG emissions and have established voluntary goals to reduce their emissions.

The alliance’s initiatives will focus first on reducing the emissions related to the supply chain operations of EUISSCA-member companies and encouraging more industry suppliers to establish programs and goals to reduce GHG emissions. The alliance will develop a baseline measurement for emissions of its members and best practices aimed at improving the energy efficiency of their supply chain operations, and will track progress through an annual survey.

IBM also rolled out an initiative to push hard on suppliers for proof that they’re taking their environmental impact seriously. The company’s “first-tier” suppliers — those 28,000 companies it buys from directly — will now be required to gather data on their energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and waste and recycling.

Suppliers that have not already done so will have to establish and follow a management system to address their corporate and environmental responsibilities. Among the requirements, suppliers must “measure performance and establish voluntary, quantifiable environmental goals; and publicly disclose results associated with these voluntary environmental goals and other environmental aspects of their management systems” said IBM.