BTs Green Switch Over

In signing the worlds largest green energy contract in October, BT attracted a great deal of positive reaction from a variety of sources. 

Not only was the announcement welcomed immediately by the prime minister, it was endorsed wholeheartedly by highly regarded global warming lobby organisation, The Climate Group, and received substantial coverage across the media.

The purchasing decision will mean virtually all of BTs electricity requirements will now be supplied by environmentally friendly energy.

Dr Steven Howard, chief executive officer of The Climate Group describes the initiative as "globally significant". He adds that the move "sends out a message that the purchase of green electricity is no longer a niche market - it has gone mainstream."

So how and why has BT seemingly become newly identified as a corporate and global pioneer in the use of environmentally-friendly energy?

In fact, for some time now, energy efficiency has been a key element of the companys purchasing strategy and sustainability has been placed at the heart of BTs business. As a consequence, BT has built up a very respectable track record of leadership in the battle against climate change. The Climate Group describes this track record as "phenomenal".

Since 1991, BT has reduced its energy-related emissions by 80 per cent nearly 1.5 million tonnes a year. This has been achieved through a number of key projects including an energy management and efficiency programme, investing in energy efficient plant and equipment and reducing waste.

However, its the wide-spread reaction to the worlds biggest ever purchase of green electricity which has seen BT grab the headlines for leading the way in responsible energy consumption among corporates.

Sheer scale

"Its fair to say though that the energy contract BT signed with npower and British Gas is a very significant one." says Chris Wade, BT Group environment manager. "Not only does it really put BT on the green energy map, you have to look at the sheer scale of this deal given that the company uses about the same amount of electricity as the whole of Birmingham and we are switching to near 100 per cent use of renewable energy."

"Its a deal that comes on the back of three years of hard work from committed team members drawn from across BT," continued Chris Wade, "and Ill be honest, three years ago, never in our wildest dreams did we think wed be in a position to purchase 100 per cent from renewable sources and better still at no extra cost."

In 2001, BT commissioned a specialist environmental consultancy, AEA Technology, to look at the external benefits for the company of purchasing renewable energy.

"At that time," says Chris, "attitudes to energy were very different even though it wasnt that long ago. There were large premiums to pay for purchasing energy from renewable sources and we invested a great deal of time weighing up the cost factor against external benefits such as benefits to health, reductions in pollution and corporate reputation."

AEA Technology compiled a report for BT which suggested that it would be justifiable to provide between three and five per cent of the companys energy from renewable sources.

"We were only really able to purchase small amounts over short term contracts. We felt disillusioned but at the same time many of us, including the energy team at BT, were passionate and determined about making a real change."

BTs energy team, led by Angus Berry, implemented a series of energy efficiency programmes for buildings and equipment including ensuring the accurate monitoring of energy usage across all of BTs 5,000 or so buildings.

Better understanding

"Having this kind of information enabled us to better understand how we use energy across the company and it was critical in helping us to shape the eventual contract with npower and British Gas." says Angus Berry.

"The energy market has changed dramatically in the past few years with factors such as government targets for renewable energy coming into play as well as public recognition of energy and environmental issues. Ultimately, we were able to secure a deal through a combination of determination to meet business objectives, hard work and BTs considerable buying power," adds Angus.

BT is just one of a number of organisations which recognise that the benefits of implementing smartly planned programmes to reduce energy emissions include both enhancements to corporate reputation as well as cost savings.

The Climate Groups latest report "Carbon Down: Profits Up" emphasises this financial aspect. The report debunks the myth that it always costs money to cut CO2 emissions with no return. It shows for the first time that reducing greenhouse gas emissions not only does not have to cost the earth, but can result in real value creation.

However, for BT, the decision to adopt green energy on this scale was not limited to cost and reputation factors:

"We pursued this strategy and took this decision because many of us were absolutely convinced this was the right thing to do," adds Chris Wade. "BT is not just a commercial organisation, we are part of society and companies like us need to continue to put back into society."

"The decision to opt for green energy on this scale fits in with BTs values and our commitment to remain as leaders in sustainability. It was these objectives that helped maintain the teams motivation to succeed in securing this deal."

Widespread recognition

Clearly the pursuit of an energy efficiency strategy is enabling BT to make cost savings imperative where financial discipline remains a strategic priority and to attract recognition for its leadership and focus on social issues.

But if anything, the success of this deal has augmented the environmentally-responsible ambitions of Chris Wade, Angus Berry and their colleagues.

"We are currently looking at some initiatives to provide embedded renewables in our own networks," says Chris Wade. "For example, we are looking at partnering to build our own wind-farm and by Christmas we hope to have a trial wind dam at one of our telephone exchanges. If this trial is successful we can generate a lot of our own electricity for individual buildings by installing wind dams on them."

"We can definitely do a lot more," concludes Chris, "and the passion and determination that many of us at BT have will drive the momentum forward."

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