Verizon Adds Bloom Energy Fuel Cell Systems to Green Energy Project at Three Company Facilities in California

NEW YORK, June 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon announced on Tuesday (June 4) an agreement to install Bloom Energy fuel cell systems at three of its California-based locations: two call-switching centers in Los Angeles and San Francisco and a data center in San Jose.  Bloom Energy's solid oxide fuel cells are expected to generate more than 16 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity for Verizon in the Golden State each year.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130604/NY25235-INFO )

The installation is part of Verizon's plan, announced in April, to invest $100 million in a solar and fuel-cell energy project that will help power 19 of the company's facilities in California and six other states across the country: Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina.   When completed next year, the project will enable Verizon to generate more than 90 million kilowatt hours of its own green energy annually.  The project will also eliminate more than 15,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, which is equivalent to the CO2 emissions from more than 1.6 million gallons of gasoline consumed. 

(To view an infographic, "Making Green Energy Work for Your Business," click here.  For photos of Bloom Energy fuel cells and Verizon's onsite energy project, click here.)

"Bloom is aligned with Verizon in the belief that the world's biggest challenges deserve bigger solutions," said Matt Ross, chief marketing officer, Bloom Energy.  "At Bloom we are excited to be helping Verizon meet the 21^st century challenge of deploying a clean, reliable, efficient energy platform for their operations."

Verizon has a history of adopting new technologies to revolutionize the information and communication infrastructure. The company's distributed-generation strategy – generating power on site at the point of consumption, using advanced renewable and clean energy technologies – will accelerate Verizon's progress toward its goal of cutting its worldwide carbon intensity by 50 percent by 2020.  Carbon intensity is a measure of the carbon emissions the company produces for each terabyte of data flowing through its networks.

"The ability to power our facilities and operations with our own on-site alternative energy sources helps Verizon meet our long-term sustainability goals, while also enhancing the resiliency of our networks and reliability of our services," said James Gowen, Verizon's chief sustainability officer. "This is more than the right thing to do for the environment; it is also the right thing to do for our customers and our business."

A History of Sustainability

Verizon has long been focused on energy efficiency and instituting sustainable real estate practices.  As an early adopter of fuel cell technologies, Verizon currently operates one of the largest fuel cell sites of its kind that helps power an environmentally friendly call-switching center and office building in Garden City, N.Y.  Verizon also uses 26 solar-assisted cell sites in remote areas in the western United States to help power a portion of the nation's largest and most reliable wireless network serving those areas. 

ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year

Last month, Verizon's sustainable real estate practices were recognized once again when the company was named an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for its operation of 128 ENERGY STAR-certified Verizon Wireless stores.  In addition, more than 130 Verizon Wireless retail stores nationwide have earned the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification through 2012.

For more information about how Verizon is growing its business by applying innovative technologies to solve important social issues, visit http://responsibility.verizon.com/.

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with nearly 99 million retail connections nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with nearly $116 billion in 2012 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 181,900.  For more information, visit about.verizon.com.

About Bloom Energy

Bloom Energy is a provider of breakthrough solid oxide fuel cell technology generating clean, highly-efficient on-site power from multiple fuel sources. The company was founded in 2001 with a mission to make clean, reliable energy affordable for everyone in the world. Bloom Energy Servers are currently producing power for several Fortune 500 companies including Google, Walmart, AT&T, eBay, Staples, The Coca-Cola Company, as well as notable non-profit organizations such as Caltech and Kaiser Permanente. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA. For more information, visit www.bloomenergy.com.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts and other information are available at Verizon's online News Center at newscenter.verizon.com.  The news releases are available through an RSS feed.  To subscribe, visit newscenter.verizon.com/corporate/feeds.

SOURCE Verizon