In support of its Carbon Zero goal, Southwire has signed a 10-year contract to participate in Alabama Power’s Renewable Subscription Program (RSP), reducing the company’s enterprise-wide carbon footprint from its operations by approximately 3%.

In July 2020, Southwire announced its Carbon Zero goal to eliminate or offset all of the company’s Scope 1 – associated with fuel combustion – and Scope 2 – associated with electricity consumption – greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.

“Southwire is pleased to have the opportunity to bolster our relationship with Alabama Power as we strive to reduce our carbon footprint and support our nation’s transition to clean energy,” said Burt Fealing, Southwire’s executive vice president, general counsel and chief sustainability officer. “We hope to set an example for others in our value chain to make similar reductions in their greenhouse gas impact as well.” 

Through the program, Southwire will receive the environmental attributes from a solar power generation system planned for Butler County, Ala., and Alabama Power will retire the renewable energy credits (RECs) on behalf of Southwire. 
 

“Alabama Power is committed to developing cost-effective energy solutions for our customers to help support their renewable energy and sustainability goals,” said Derrick Cherry, team leader of customer renewables at Alabama Power. “Through this partnership with Southwire, we are excited to continue the focus of providing sustainable energy solutions for the future to help enhance the communities in which we live and work.”

The Butler County Solar Project is a planned 80-megawatt solar generating facility that is expected to come online in 2024. Southwire’s allocation will be approximately 19% of the RECs from the project, which represents an estimated 33,000 MWh per year.

The allocation will reduce Southwire’s Scope 2 carbon emissions – those associated with electricity it purchases from Alabama Power. The partnership with Alabama Power comes as a result of discussions that began nearly three years ago.  
 

“At Southwire, we take a multi-layered approach to achieving our Carbon Zero objective. Our portfolio of solutions includes facility energy efficiency improvements, on-site solar generation, purchasing renewable energy, and contracting with our utility partners for renewable energy credits,” said Bo Quick, Southwire’s senior director of sustainability and environmental partnerships. “Alabama Power’s RSP helps us continue to make significant progress towards our emission reduction goals.” 

For more Southwire news, visit https://www.southwire.com/newsroom. To learn more about Southwire's commitment to sustainability, visit https://www.southwire.com/sustainability.