Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE: IRM), which is in storage and information management services, on Oct. 10 announced the signing of a wind power purchase agreement that will leverage renewable energy sources to power as much as 30% of its North American electricity footprint.
That capacity will be sufficient to power all of its Texas operations (more than 75 facilities) as well as additional states, providing long-term rate stability and with as much as $1.5 million annually in related cost avoidance. When completed in 2017, Iron Mountain’s share of the wind farm could produce up to 100,000 megawatt hours (MWh) per year. Under the agreement, Iron Mountain will purchase 10% of the energy produced at the Amazon Wind Farm Texas, a 253-MW 110+ turbine wind farm in Scurry County, Texas, developed by Lincoln Clean Energy, a developer, owner and operator of clean power projects with a particular focus on wind and solar power in the United States.
“Power consumption is an expensive and resource-consuming part of our global operational footprint , and one of the areas we’ve targeted as an opportunity to transform our business,” said Ty Ondatje, senior vice president of Corporate Responsibility and chief diversity officer for Iron Mountain. “Renewable energy strategies, along with energy efficiency, are at the heart of our efforts to deliver both savings back to the company and look for opportunities to innovate.”
This purchase, coupled with the company’s recent signing of a 15-year agreement with a wind farm in Ringer Hill, Penn. as well as ongoing investments in solar projects throughout the U.S. and Canada, have positioned Iron Mountain to be able to utilize renewable sources for two-thirds of its total North American electricity load by 2018.
Iron Mountain’s real estate network comprises more than 85 million square feet across more than 1,400 facilities in 45 countries dedicated to protecting and preserving what matters most for its customers. Iron Mountain’s solutions portfolio includes records management, data management, document management, data centers, art storage and logistics and secure shredding.
