T-Mobile announced this week that it will move to 100% renewable electricity by 2021. The mobile telecomm company took another step toward their clean energy commitment by unveiling a second wind farm project.
“It’s the Un-carrier way to do the right thing by our customers, and moving to renewable energy is just a natural part of that,” said John Legere, president and CEO at T-Mobile. “And it’s not just the right thing to do – it’s smart business! We expect to cut T-Mobile’s energy costs by around $100 million in the next 15 years thanks to this move.”
T-Mobile unveiled that the company has finalized a contract for 160 MWs from Infinity Renewables’ Solomon Forks Wind Project in Kansas, with power generation slated to begin in early 2019. The Solomon Forks project marks T-Mobile’s second major wind power project. The first, the Red Dirt Wind Project operated by Enel Green Power in Oklahoma, went online this past December. Combined, the two will generate 320 MWs for T-Mobile, enough to meet an estimated 60% of the company’s total energy needs nationwide.
To reach 100%, T-Mobile will buy enough wind power annually to account for every unit of electricity the company consumes. The company is also focused on creating new energy from renewable sources, buying only from projects that wouldn’t exist without T-Mobile’s involvement.
Formalizing its commitment to go 100% renewable, T-Mobile US also joined Nike, Google, Microsoft and Facebook as part of RE100. Started by The Climate Group, RE100 works with leading businesses around the world to switch private sector electricity demand to renewables and accelerate the transformation of the global energy market and the transition to a low carbon economy. T-Mobile will report electricity data annually to RE100, who will report on the company’s progress.
Sam Kimmins, Head of RE100 at The Climate Group said: “It’s great to see T-Mobile US shifting to renewables for its power consumption. As a large electricity consumer in the US, they can truly transform energy systems by bringing significant renewable capacity online – all of that while delivering real value to their customers.”
The Environmental Leader Conference & Energy Manager Summit takes place May 15 – 17, 2018 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center. More information here.
