US telecom giant Verizon has signed four new power purchase agreements (PPAs) to procure renewable energy.
As part of its commitment to using renewable energy, the company announced last week that it has signed four new long-term renewable energy purchase agreements (REPAs) for an aggregate of up to 410 MW of renewable energy capacity.
The telco’s goal is to source or generate renewable energy equivalent to 50% of its total annual electricity usage by 2025. As a result of these new agreements, the company has surpassed 3GW of total projected renewable energy capacity across 24 REPAs.
"We are proud to be among the leading corporations in the U.S. in buying renewable energy," said Matt Ellis, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Verizon.
"We are also a leader in green financing, issuing four green bonds totaling $4 billion in as many years, allowing us to further support and invest in renewable energy to deliver on our goal to be net zero in our operational emissions (scope 1 and 2) by 2035,” Matt added.
The newly-signed agreements include two REPAs with Invenergy for a combined renewable energy capacity of up to 240 MW. The projects include a facility in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) regional market and a facility in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) regional market, both of which became operational in 2022.
The company has also signed a 12-year REPA with Enel North America for an aggregate of up to 100 MW of capacity from a wind facility in the SPP regional market that went into operation in December 2022.
The telco has also signed a REPA for an aggregate of up to 70 MW from a facility in the Pennsylvania Jersey Maryland (PJM) Interconnection regional market.
To date, seven renewable energy facilities relating to Verizon's REPAs for a cumulative capacity of more than 800 MW are operational, including a previously announced 207 MW wind facility in Iowa with Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions which recently became fully operational.
The telco has signed a 15-year agreement to off-take capacity from the Ledyard Windpower project in Kossuth County.