Washington DC// September 26, 2019: In one short week, three leading U.S. telecommunications companies – T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint – have all announced major contracts to increase their use of renewable energy. Green America, which launched the “Hang Up on Fossil Fuels” campaign in 2017, applauded the companies’ responsiveness to consumer demand for more green energy. Green America is currently focusing its campaign on Verizon, which made a commitment to 50 percent renewables by 2025, but has so far not entered into new contracts for clean energy.
“Telecom companies are listening to their customers,” said Todd Larsen, Green America’s Executive Co-Director for Consumer and Corporate Engagement. “Since the start of the Hang Up on Fossil Fuels campaign, tens of thousands of consumers have written to and called telecoms, urging them to move to clean energy. The industry is taking important steps on clean energy, and now needs to accelerate the move to 100 percent wind and solar.”
Here are the major new announcements:
- T-Mobile said that the company will be adding one new wind farm and four new solar farms that will provide a total 600MW of green energy. When online, the company reports these renewable energy sources will bring T- Mobile to 95 percent of its RE100 commitment of 100 percent clean energy by 2021.
- A week ago, Sprint announced its first clean energy project, a 12-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Duke Energy Renewables that the company states would provide about 30 percent of the telecom’s energy.
- On September 23, AT&T announced two new renewable energy deals with Invergy and Duke that will bring the company to over 1.5 gigawatts of clean energy. AT&T estimates that the total annual clean energy produced under the company’s existing contracts is equal to taking 690,000 cars off the road for one year.
Verizon did not announce any new contracts. Last year the company announced a commitment to 50 percent renewable energy by 2025 and issued a $1 billion green bond this year to fund a variety of green initiatives, including renewable energy.
“Green America applauds T-Mobile’s industry-leading progress on renewable energy,” said Beth Porter, Green America’s Climate Campaigns Director. “In order for telecoms to address the climate crisis, we need the entire industry to move to 100 percent renewable energy by 2025 at the latest. With wind and solar power increasingly costing less than fossil fuels, it also makes economic sense for companies to rapidly adopt clean energy.”
Green America’s Hang Up on Fossil Fuels Campaign is pressuring the telecom sector to use 100 percent renewable energy since 2017, when the industry was using almost no clean energy.
ABOUT GREEN AMERICA
Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today’s social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org