Verizon Wireless 2011 Annual Report Download - page 23

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VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. | 2011 ANNUAL REPORT
When studies showed that
equipment used within
our network consumed an
increasingly large amount
of energy, Todd Talbot,
a Verizon engineer, worked
with suppliers to create
benchmarks for increased
energy eciency —
causing a ripple eect
across the industry.
Toward a Smart Energy Ecosystem
Sustainability is also smart business for Verizon. We see a growing mar-
ket for smart technologies that enable better energy management of
homes, cars, oce buildings and utility grids. We are partners with a
number of utilities in their transition to remote meter management,
increasingly using cloud-based solutions and “e-meters” that minimize
utilities’ capital requirements. The machine-to-machine solutions and
sensors being developed in our innovation labs are critical to the drive
to modernize our transportation and electrical systems.
The real breakthrough of this digitization of the electrical grid is that it
uses information to give users unprecedented control over how they
consume and manage energy and unites producers and consumers of
energy into a single, dynamic energy ecosystem.
We are beginning to glimpse this future already in Charlotte, NC, where
Verizon is working with Duke Energy to create a more sustainable urban
environment in a project known as “Envision: Charlotte.” We have con-
nected the energy systems of 70 buildings in the city’s core via our 4G
LTE wireless network and are displaying real-time data on energy con-
sumption on interactive video kiosks throughout the city, along with
suggestions about how to reduce energy use. Duke Energy estimates
that the actions resulting from a better informed, motivated population
will produce a 20 percent drop in power use by 2016.
We have also invested in Consert Inc., an energy innovator that provides
utilities with an energy management solution powered by the Verizon
wireless network. Consert installs smart meters that provide the elec-
tric utility with real-time energy usage information and puts sensors on
energy-using devices such as water heaters and air conditioners that
empower consumers to set, monitor and reduce their energy consump-
tion. Trials in North Carolina and Texas resulted in a 17 percent energy
savings. Smart meters and sensors also work in tandem and enable
the utility to manage the grid during periods of peak demand to avoid
brownouts and mitigate the need to build new power plants. By giving
electric utilities greater control over their networks, we’re helping com-
munities better manage their energy usage.
Just as we’re seeing in the communications business, innovation is
transforming every touchpoint around the energy ecosystem, from
the appliances in customers’ homes to the cars and roads in the trans-
portation system to the power lines and generators in the electric
infrastructure itself. Communications technology is making every part
of this system smarter. And the bigger the role of communications in
addressing our long-term energy challenges, the bigger the opportu-
nity for Verizon to be part of the solution.
To view the Verizon Corporate Responsibility report online featuring
additional content, go to responsibility.verizon.com/2011.