PR Archives:  LatestBy Company By Date


Press Release -- January 31st, 2012
Source: Sprint Nextel
Tags:

Sprint Leads Wireless Industry in Green Power, Securing No. 13 on EPA Fortune 500® Green Power Partner List

Only wireless carrier named to National Top 50

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), January 31, 2012 – Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S, news, filings) announced today that the company has moved up from No. 20 to No. 13 on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Fortune® 500 Green Power Partner list, and to No. 26 on the National Top 50 list highlighting the largest green power purchasers. Sprint is the only wireless carrier to appear on the National Top 50 list. Renewable energy and energy efficiency are the two key components of Sprint’s plan to reduce its carbon footprint. Sprint’s renewable energy efforts build upon its existing relationship with the EPA to protect the environment through its electronic waste efforts and device recycling programs.

Sprint has secured more than 170 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power, enough to meet 5 percent of the organization’s electricity use and offset 100 percent of the company’s energy use at its Overland Park, Kan., headquarters. Sprint’s latest renewable energy initiative was the purchase of a strategic portfolio of renewable energy certificates (RECs) from renewable energy provider, 3Degrees. A renewable energy certificate represents the environmental attributes that are created when electricity is generated using renewable sources such as wind or solar.

“We are proud to again be named on the EPA’s Green Power Partners list,” said Gene Agee, vice president – Procurement & Real Estate, Sprint. “Our recent efforts to expand our use of renewable energy products and significantly improve our energy efficiency, demonstrate our commitment to reducing our environmental impact and leading the industry toward cleaner energy solutions.”

The EPA considers “green power” as generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydropower. According to the EPA, purchases of green power help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants that threaten Americans’ health, and help accelerate the nation’s voluntary green power market. Purchases of green power help expand the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector.

“The EPA applauds Sprint for greatly increasing its green power purchase and for taking a leadership position on the environment,” said Blaine Collison, Director of the Green Power Partnership. “Green power can be one of the easiest ways for an organization to address its carbon footprint and to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity generation.”

Sprint leads the U.S. telecommunications industry in terms of kilowatt hours of renewable energy products in its portfolio. According to the U.S. EPA, Sprint’s green power is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of nearly 24,000 passenger vehicles per year, or the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of more than 15,000 average American homes annually.

A sustainability leader

Sprint’s leadership in environmental sustainability has earned the company substantial recognition. For the third year in a row, Sprint ranked highest among all U.S. telecom companies on Newsweek’s 2011 Rankings of America’s Greenest Companies at No. 3, up from No. 6 in 2010. Sprint was also ranked highest among the wireless carrier industry on the Dow Jones Sustainability Leadership Index North America.

For more information on Sprint’s commitment to renewable energy solutions, visit http://www.sprint.com/responsibility/ouroperations/climate_change.

To learn more about Sprint programs that protect the environment, go to www.sprint.com/responsibility or follow @SprintGreenNews on Twitter.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 53 million customers at the end of 3Q 2011 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The 2011 American Customer Satisfaction Index showed Sprint is the #1 most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all industries, over the last three years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

Contact(s):

Sprint
Marci VerBrugge-Rhind, 913-794-6319
marci.j.verbrugge@sprint.com

PR Archives: Latest, By Company, By Date