T-Mobile, famous for its “Un-carrier” service model the negates the need for mobile phone contracts, data fees and early termination fees, announced on Monday (29 January) that it would commit to the 100% renewables goal by 2021.
“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,” T-Mobile’s chief executive John Legere said. “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 $100m in the next 15 years thanks to this move. Imagine the awesome things we can do for our customers with that!”
The company has finalised a contract to source 160MW from Infinity Renewables’ Solomon Forks Wind Project in Kansas and will gain access to the electricity in early 2019. When combined with T-Mobile’s other wind energy agreement – a 160MW contract with the Red Forks Wind Project in Oklahoma – the two projects will account for around 60% of the Un-carrier’s energy needs.
T-Mobile revealed it would focus on creating energy from new renewable sources by only purchasing from projects that “wouldn’t exist without T-Mobile’s involvement”.
RE100 commitment
As part of the commitment, T-Mobile has agreed to join the Climate Group’s RE100 commitment, joining the likes of Nike, Telefonica, Kellogg’s and Schneider Electric in targeting a transition to 100% renewables.
The Climate Group’s head of RE100 Sam Kimmins 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. I congratulate them for a great commitment.”
Regarding the RE100, a new report from the Climate Group noted that renewables are becoming the energy source of choice for corporate electricity users. RE100 members such as Marks & Spencer, Sky PLC and Elopak Inc, were among the European companies that hit a target of sourcing 100% of their electricity from renewables in 2016.
On a global level, the biggest achievers in 2016 included Bank of America, Astra Zeneca and Coca Cola Enterprises, whose share of renewable electricity increased more than threefold.
Matt Mace