Windstream Reduces Carbon Footprint Through Renewable Energy Agreement With ENGIE

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. & HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Windstream, a privately held communications and software company, today announced a retail renewable energy agreement with ENGIE Resources, a subsidiary of ENGIE North America. The five-year contract extends through 2026 under which Windstream will purchase electricity and Renewable Energy Credits from ENGIE’s Live Oak wind project in Texas. This renewable energy purchase matches 100% of Windstream’s forecasted electricity consumption at more than 400 Texas locations.

The renewable energy in this agreement represents the environmental benefits of eliminating the greenhouse gas emissions from 3,505 cars per year, or the carbon sequestered by 19,744 acres of U.S. forest annually over the course of the agreement.*

"We are delighted that the Live Oak wind project will play a major part in Windstream's renewable energy solution,” said David Carroll, chief renewables officer at ENGIE North America. “As an operator of more than 3 GW of renewable energy across North America alongside leading customer solutions businesses, we are committed to being at the forefront of the energy transition and are excited to collaborate with organizations such as Windstream to accelerate those efforts."

Windstream will also achieve budget certainty throughout the term of this agreement with a fixed price structure in a simple retail contract with flexible terms.

Renewable energy is an increasingly important part of Windstream’s environmental sustainability strategy and approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity consumption. Windstream formally initiated its renewable and carbon-free energy program in 2020 with the signing of its first community solar project and has continued to source other renewable opportunities.

In 2020, approximately 34% of Windstream’s companywide purchased Scope 2 electricity, which powers network locations and data centers, came from renewable and carbon-free sources. Following the agreement with ENGIE Resources, approximately 44% of Windstream’s purchased Scope 2 electricity now comes from these sources. The company is working toward a goal of purchasing 50% of its Scope 2 electricity from renewable and carbon-free sources by 2025.

“Windstream is committed to environmental stewardship, and this agreement with ENGIE Resources is the latest step in our ongoing effort to reduce carbon emissions,” said Mark Reed, chief procurement officer for Windstream. “Renewable energy sources are key to driving down emissions. To contribute to this vital worldwide effort, our corporate sustainability program combines common-sense strategies with ambitious long-term initiatives to become more resource efficient, enabling us to make improvements while balancing the needs of our customers, employees, and owners.”

Serving as advisor on the agreement is Atlanta, Georgia, based Insight Sourcing Group’s Energy practice. ISG Enterprise Energy is a consulting practice focused on sustainability through strategic sourcing of renewables and execution of energy efficiency projects, working with senior executives and procurement leaders from corporate clients and private equity firms.

ENGIE North America is the developer, owner (in partnership with an affiliate of John Laing Group plc), and operator of the Live Oak wind project. Live Oak is a 200 MW project that is located near San Angelo, Texas. ENGIE North America has added nearly 2GW of renewable energy in the U.S., a major contribution to the global goal of 9GW from 2019-2021. Globally in 2020, ENGIE commissioned 3GW of new renewable capacity, bringing total renewable capacity portfolio to 31GW.

*EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator

About Windstream

Windstream Holdings is a privately held communications and software company. Windstream offers managed communications services, including SD-WAN and UCaaS, and high-capacity bandwidth and transport services to businesses across the U.S. The company also provides premium broadband, entertainment and security services through an enhanced fiber network to consumers and small and midsize businesses primarily in rural areas in 18 states. Additional information is available at windstream.com or windstreamenterprise.com. Follow us on Twitter at @Windstream.

About ENGIE North America

ENGIE North America Inc. offers a range of capabilities in the United States and Canada to help customers decarbonize, decentralize and digitalize their operations. These include comprehensive services to help customers run their facilities more efficiently and optimize energy and other resource use and expense; clean power generation; energy storage; and retail energy supply that includes renewable, demand response, and on-bill financing options. Nearly 100% of the company’s power generation portfolio is low carbon or renewable. Globally, ENGIE S.A. is a global reference in low-carbon energy and services, that relies on their key businesses (gas, renewable energy, services) to offer competitive solutions to customers. With 170,000 employees, customers, partners and stakeholders, the group is committed to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral world, through reduced energy consumption and more environmentally-friendly solutions.