Our environmental commitment
We are committed to preserving and sustaining the natural environment and we know our actions have direct and indirect impacts locally, regionally and globally. Read on to learn more about our work to minimize our environmental footprint.
Transforming our network
As we step into the future as a fiber-first company, we are changing the future of connectivity for the communities we serve and delivering tremendous benefits to our customers. Beyond these enhanced services, we’re also taking advantage of the environmental opportunity that fiber expansion provides to build a more sustainable network. Optical fiber itself is made entirely from readily available materials, reduces power consumption of our network and is more reliable, reducing truck rolls to address service disruptions, further reducing our carbon footprint.
The impact of fiber broadband is exponential, giving each customer served the power to reduce their own carbon footprint by empowering customers to work, play and communicate digitally while avoiding emissions related to traditional means of travel for meetings and gathering.
As our fiber expansion continues to change the trajectory of communities across our service area, we are strategically decommissioning portions of our copper facilities. According to a 2024 white paper from the Fiber Broadband Association, the carbon footprint associated with manufacturing the components of an all-fiber network is approximately 60% less than that of an equivalent hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network, and the operational carbon footprint is up to 96% lower. This allows us to minimize environmental impacts of building and maintaining copper facilities, transition to more energy efficient fiber equipment and invest more in our fiber expansion.
Tracking our environmental impact
Measuring our resource use is crucial to effectively managing our environmental footprint. For the year ending Dec. 31, 2024, our company reports the following environmental metrics:
Greenhouse Gas Emissions:
- Scope 1 GHG Emissions: 5,728 mt CO2e
- Scope 2 GHG Emissions: 62,203 mt CO2e
Total Electricity Usage: 217,630 MWHs; 32% of electricity used from renewable sources
Total Water Usage: 23,168,970 gallons; - 8% reduction from 2023.
For more information, download our 2024 ESG report.