PepsiCo made headlines in 2007 when it committed to buying enough renewable energy certificates (RECs) to match the energy used in its U.S. facilities.

The purchase set a record: More than a billion kilowatt-hours annually for three years, or enough to power nearly 90,000 homes.

Today the company announced it is changing course, opting instead to reinvest the funds in onsite renewable energy projects that will allow it to more directly reduce its carbon footprint. PepsiCo will spend more than $30 million over the next three years developing green power projects in the U.S.

"Our strategy has advanced to a point where it makes the most sense to invest in alternative energy projects within our own operations," Rob Schasel, PepsiCo's director of energy and resource conservation, wrote in a column today breaking the news at GreenBiz.com.

The move makes PepsiCo the latest company to roll back its participation in the voluntary carbon market in favor of direct action. The first in a series of new renewable energy projects included in the $30 million initiative are in various stages of development, with a few likely to go online in late 2010, Schasel said. They will follow a string of successful renewable energy projects which he said were instrumental in today's decision.

In 2008, for example, the company flipped the switch on a five-acre solar concentrator system in Modesto, Calif. that helps to power a Frito-Lay SunChips plant (pictured above and at right). The project also provided the company with a prime marketing opportunity while also drastically cutting greenhouse gases and its reliance on natural gas.

PepsiCo won't completely abandon RECs going forward, but new purchases will be less than 10 percent of those previously bought, mostly for LEED-certified projects.

Its contract to match all of its energy use for three years with RECs purchases expired at the end of 2009. When first announced, the contract propelled PepsiCo to the upper echelon of companies comprising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's largest Green Power Purchasers. Schasel described the company as feeling very pleased with its experience.

"We saw an opportunity to enter a market that was at that point just forming and gain experience," Schasel said. "We wanted to help that market achieve a level of critical mass and scale, and also get experience with renewable energy projects."

It was a noteworthy purchase that demonstrated significant leadership, according to Blaine Collison, Green Power Partnership director, especially when combined with PepsiCo's independent bottlers hopping onboard.

"It was a sizable piece of market transformation," Collison said.