United States– Windstream has signed a retail renewable energy agreement with ENGIE Resources, an ENGIE North America affiliate.
Windstream will acquire electricity and Renewable Energy Credits from ENGIE’s Live Oak wind project in Texas under the five-year arrangement, which runs through 2026. This renewable energy purchase covers 100% of Windstream’s projected electricity demand at over 400 Texas locations.
The renewable energy in this agreement represents the environmental advantages of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from 3,505 cars each year, or the carbon stored by 19,744 acres of US forest each year for the duration of the agreement.
With a set price structure in a simple retail contract with flexible terms, Windstream will also enjoy budget certainty during the length of this deal.
Windstream’s environmental sustainability strategy and approach to lowering greenhouse gas emissions from power use are becoming increasingly essential. Windstream formally launched its renewable and carbon-free energy program in 2020 with the signing of its first community solar project, and it has since sought out other green options.
Windstream purchased around 34% of its Scope 2 electricity, which powers network locations and data centers, from renewable and carbon-free sources in 2020. Following the agreement with ENGIE Resources, these sources now account for around 44 percent of Windstream’s acquired Scope 2 electricity. By 2025, the corporation hopes to have purchased 50% of its Scope 2 electricity from renewable and carbon-free sources.
Insight Sourcing Group’s Energy practice, situated in Atlanta, Georgia, is serving as the agreement’s advisor. Working with senior executives and procurement leaders from corporate clients and private equity companies, ISG Enterprise Energy is a consultancy practice focused on sustainability through strategic sourcing of renewables and project execution of energy efficiency initiatives.
The Live Oak wind project is developed, owned (in conjunction with an affiliate of John Laing Group plc), and operated by ENGIE North America. Live Oak is a 200-megawatt (MW) project located near San Angelo, Texas. ENGIE North America has installed over 2GW of renewable energy in the United States, making a significant contribution to the global objective of 9GW from 2019 to 2021. ENGIE will commission 3GW of new renewable power globally in 2020, raising its total renewable capacity portfolio to 31GW.
