Dive Brief:

• Verizon will invest $40 million to expand an on-site green energy program it first launched last year.
• The company will install 10.2 MW of new solar systems at eight Verizon facilities in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.
• The investment almost doubles the power installed at Verizon facilities last year and would make the company the largest solar-producing communications company in the U.S.

Dive Insight:

Spurred by the falling price of solar panels as well as the need for reliable power supply, Verizon has to date invested nearly $140 million in on-site green energy.

Last year, the company announced a $100 million solar and fuel-cell energy project. Including the 2014 announcement, the company is on target to deploy upward of 25 MW of green energy upon completion of the new solar projects. Verizon estimated its total green-energy efforts are expected to offset 22,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

“By almost doubling the amount of renewable, solar energy we’re using, we are making further progress toward Verizon’s goal of cutting our carbon intensity in half by 2020, in part, by leveraging the proven business case for clean-energy alternatives to the commercial power grid," said James Gowen, Verizon’s chief sustainability officer.

Last year, Verizon said it exceeded its 10 MW green-energy target, and has currently deployed 14.2 MW of on-site green energy using a combination of fuel cells and solar power systems.