Verizon invests $100 million in alternative energy plan for 19 facilities

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is investing $100 million on solar and fuel-cell energy projects that will enable it to power 19 of its network facilities located in seven states, while reducing their carbon footprint.  

The project will be completed in 2014 at corporate offices, data centers and central offices located in seven states: Arizona, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina.

Through this initiative, Verizon said it will be able to generate over 70 million kilowatt hours of its own green energy, while eliminating more than 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

James Gowen, chief sustainability officer for Verizon Communications, declined to tell Reuters how much money the investment would save them other than to say that it would have an impact on overall operation costs.

"I have a CFO and a CEO who are telling me quite often, 'We are not going green for green's sake.' So we absolutely have a positive return on investment based on a 10-year net present value," Gowen told Reuters.

For this project, Verizon will install ClearEdge Power's PureCell Model 400 fuel cell systems at Verizon sites in California, New Jersey and New York, which they say will "generate more than 60 million kilowatt hours of electricity and result in a carbon reduction of approximately 6,000 metric tons per year."

Another side benefit of the project, reports Reuters, is increasing network uptime. During Superstorm Sandy, Gowen said that the fuel cells at its Garden City site on Long Island enabled it to keep network operations running when various segments of the traditional power grid were still being repaired.

For more:
- see the release
- Reuters has this article

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