Overland Park, Kan. – May 23, 2019
QTS Realty Trust (NYSE: QTS), a leading provider of hybrid colocation and mega scale data center solutions today announced that, together with Citigroup Energy Inc. and Calpine Energy Solutions, LLC, it has signed a 10-year agreement to purchase renewable energy equal to the expected electricity needs of the Company’s data centers in Chicago, Ill. and Piscataway, N.J.
Companies in the commercial and industrial sector account for approximately two thirds of the world’s end-of-use of electricity. Switching this demand to renewables is transforming the global energy market and accelerating the transition to a clean economy.
Under the agreement, QTS purchased environmental attributes from Rio Bravo Wind in Starr County, Texas equal to 100% of the projected power consumption of the data centers. In addition, the agreement provides that an equivalent amount of financial energy has been purchased from the Radford’s Run Wind Farm in Macon County, Ill. The Radford’s Run Wind Farm is owned by E.ON Climate and Renewables North America, LLC. The Rio Bravo Wind is owned by Rio Bravo Windpower, LLC.
QTS’ commitment to procure 100% of its power from renewable energy sources by 2025 was announced in conjunction with its recently published 2018 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Initiatives Report – a first for the Company and one of the first in the data center industry. Available online here, the report – prepared by the QTS Sustainability Leadership team in conjunction with a third party ESG consultant – provides a comprehensive summary of QTS’ approach to sustainable business practices that are highly important to its stakeholders and business.
“Today’s announcement is another significant step towards our goal of procuring 100% of our power from renewable energy sources by 2025,” said Travis Wright, Vice President Energy and Sustainability, QTS. “Renewable energy is a critical component of our comprehensive sustainability program that we document and report on publicly. As a leader in the data center industry, we are committed to minimizing our carbon footprint through advanced development and procurement initiatives.”
The company now has three mega data centers procuring 100% of their energy from renewable sources, including its data centers in Chicago, Piscataway and Irving, TX.
