US: Iron Mountain goes green

Iron Mountain Incorporated, the storage and information management company, has announced the signing of a 15-year wind power purchase agreement that will exchange 30 percent of its North American electricity footprint with renewable energy. Additionally, the purchase of two-thirds of the power produced by a new wind turbine farm – currently under construction in Ringer Hill, Penn. – will provide Iron Mountain with long-term rate stability and expected annual savings of up to $500,000 in utility costs.

The power generated by the Ringer Hill turbines will directly provide for the energy needs of Iron Mountain’s entire mid-Atlantic operations (comprising all or part of 13 states, including Washington, DC), currently using over 80,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually. In particular, this wind power purchase will support the energy requirements for Iron Mountain’s emergent data center business, projected to account for as much as 20 percent of the company’s electricity use in North America as the business grows.

“As the largest operational cost and environmental concern, power has an incredible impact on our data center business,” said Mark Kidd, senior vice president and general manager, Iron Mountain Data Centers. “Locking in a long-term, reliable and renewable energy supply ensures price stability, predictability and superior cost control. The wind power agreement, along with our recent Better Buildings Initiative pledge to reduce energy intensity of 8.75 megawatts, demonstrates a serious commitment to environmental responsibility. This new agreement better positions Iron Mountain and our customers to meet the growing demand for clean, sustainable power.”

The agreement was signed in December 2015 with New Jersey Resources, a company that provides natural gas and clean energy services, including transportation, distribution and asset management. When the wind farm goes online at the end of 2016, Iron Mountain will become one of the top 25 buyers of renewable energy among the FORTUNE 1000 and a top 70 energy buyer in the Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Partnership, a voluntary program that encourages the organizational procurement of sustainable power.

“This agreement represents a really exciting opportunity for us as we continue to advance our sustainability efforts,” said Ty Ondatje, senior vice president of corporate responsibility and Iron Mountain’s chief diversity officer. “Our corporate responsibility journey has seen us evolve from our initial focus on corporate citizenship to a deeper, more strategic agenda that uses environmental and social metrics to help us identify ‘blind spots’ in our business where we can innovate. In doing so, we are finding new ways of doing things that drive significant business value and deliver better results for our customers, our communities and the environment. This agreement, as well as our solar power projects, will deliver bottom-line impact for our business through both operational efficiencies and significant cost savings. And, in turn, we can help our customers to do the same when they choose us for their storage and information management needs.”