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Largest ever US NGV Commitment
AT&T ‘sends signal’ to auto makers
$565 Million over 10 Years Reduces Carbon Emissions by 211,000 Metric Tons
1,000 new or saved jobs for next five years
Following a successful pilot program which commenced with the deployment of 105 alternative-fuel vehicles in more than 30 U.S. cities in June last year (see NGV Global article), AT&T is to invest up to US$565 million as part of a long-term strategy to deploy more than 15,000 alternative-fuel vehicles over the next 10 years. AT&T expects to spend an estimated $350 million to purchase about 8,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles and approximately $215 million to begin replacing its passenger cars with hybrid and other alternative-fuel models.
The investment represents the largest U.S. corporate commitment to CNG vehicles to date. The new deployments will bring AT&T’s alternative-fuel fleet to more than 15,000 vehicles by 2019, in response to the nation’s growing demand for cleaner domestic vehicles.
Jerome Webber, VP Fleet Operations, said AT&T was committed to influencing the alternative fuel vehicle market – “We have one of the largest corporate fleets in the country. We want to use the size of our fleet, our buying power, to signal to the industry that we are interested in alternative fuel vehicles” .
Over the next five years, AT&T will replace about 8,000 gasoline-powered service vehicles with vehicles powered by domestically available CNG. A Green Technology insignia will make the vehicles easy to identify on the road. CNG vehicles are expected to emit approximately 25 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than those traditionally powered by gasoline.
The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, estimates that the new vehicles will save 49 million gallons of gasoline and reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons over the 10-year deployment period. That is equivalent to removing the emissions from more than 38,600 traditional passenger vehicles for a year.
The vehicle chassis will be built domestically by a U.S. automotive manufacturer. AT&T will then work with domestic suppliers to convert the chassis to run on CNG. AT&T will also work with natural gas service providers to build up to 40 new CNG fueling stations across its operating region to provide the fueling infrastructure needed for the new vehicles. This investment will have a positive impact on job creation and preservation. CAR estimates that nearly 1,000 jobs will be created or saved each year for five years.
The announcement can be viewed live here. (Press Release)
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