While the Bellevue HQ showcases features designed to support employee well-being and innovation, one of T-Mobile’s newest Customer Experience Centers — nearly 1,000 miles away in sun-drenched California — is making a different kind of impact.
At the CEC in Kingsburg, T-Mobile is harnessing the power of solar energy at an astounding scale. Solar panels supply around 75% of the impressive 86,729-square-foot facility’s electricity needs. As a result, the center is key to T-Mobile’s progress towards net-zero emissions.
“It’s just amazing to see how one facility can play such a crucial role in the company’s overall sustainability strategy,” says Maria Jimenez, the CEC’s Director.
Jimenez, who became Director in 2024, also felt a sense of alignment with the company’s environmental goals when she stepped into the CEC.
“Sustainability goes far beyond just what’s happening here,” she says. “This facility can hold over 1,000 employees, and I think people always want to know how they’re contributing to a bigger cause. Professionally as a leader, and personally as a mother to two daughters, it’s about making conscious choices to help reduce impact on our planet.”
As of Dec. 31, 2023, T-Mobile is powering its operations with 100% renewable electricity — a milestone that reflects both environmental responsibility and the company’s strategy to support scalable, sustainable growth as it works toward net-zero emissions by 2040.
It’s a complex process to achieve this goal. It starts with purchasing electricity from the U.S. electric grid, which is powered by a variety of energy sources including solar, wind and other renewables. These renewables are tracked by so-called Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). T-Mobile has built a strong renewable energy base using these RECs by investing in a number of projects such as wind and solar-powered sites.
The company has been growing its investment in CEC solar projects across the country with the help of Redaptive, an organization that decarbonizes real estate by supplying data and resources to install energy generating and energy saving equipment including solar power upgrades at scale. The company helped install the solar panels not only in Kingsburg, but also at T-Mobile CECs in Rochester, New York; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Las Vegas.
After completion, Redaptive’s CEO Arvin Vohra says these locations will have a combined system size of 2,600 kWh, which will lead to a 4.3 million kWh of solar production annually. In other words, the electricity produced will avoid 18,132 metric tons of CO2 emissions over the next 15 years, which is the equivalent to emissions from 3,673 homes.
Redaptive has helped many of the Fortune 500 companies meet their sustainability goals, but Vohra says T-Mobile stood out with its upfront vetting and intentional goal setting the moment the two organizations met seven years ago.
“There’s an upper echelon of companies that have looked into this and that have done something about it,” says Vohra. “T-Mobile is certainly, from the renewable procurement side, at the cutting edge.”
He says the deliberate process of creating a roadmap towards cleaner energy production from a wide range of real estate across the country also set T-Mobile apart from other clients.
“Hearing some of T-Mobile’s already achieved goals, I’m undeniably impressed. It’s a very complicated process to actually procure 100% of renewable energy, particularly when you have a such a widely distributed footprint,” says Vohra. “What you’re really doing is you’re buying solar power and wind power from different places, and T-Mobile was able to successfully stitch that strategy together to craft its carbon neutrality objective.”
“The electricity produced by the solar panels on T-Mobile’s CECs will avoid 18,132 metric tons of CO2 emissions over the next 15 years, which is the equivalent to removing 43,899 barrels of oil or the emissions from 3,673 homes.”
Arvin Vohra, CEO of Redaptive
After announcing its goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2040, T-Mobile has cut its total carbon emissions by 33% (using market-based Scope 2 emission figures and excluding Scope 3 indirect use-phase emissions). This comes largely in part by using more renewable sources and improving energy efficiencies.
Vohra says that while he’s heard all kinds of bold sustainability goals since his company was founded in 2015, T-Mobile’s success metrics are hard to ignore.
“It matters because we see companies that are pushing out those deadlines,” says Vohra. “Meanwhile, T-Mobile has already made major headway.”
At the Kingsburg facility, Vohra says Redaptive installed 1,385 540W panels that generate a power output of 693kW AC with an annual production of 1176MWh. For context, imagine that if there are approximately 1,000 employees on site, the energy created is the same as if every employee outfitted a single-family home with solar panels — times four.
“This facility can hold over 1,000 employees, and I think people always want to know how they’re contributing to a bigger cause.”
Maria Jimenez, T-Mobile Kingsburg CEC Director
It’s this kind of impact that Jimenez says empowers her and the Kingsburg CEC employees.
“When it comes to the efforts that we’re doing internally for our people and for our consumers,” she says, “it’s always front of mind to show transparency and ensure we’re doing things the right way.”
Stay tuned for part 3.
**33% Reduction in total Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions since 2020 using market-based Scope 2 emission figures and excluding Scope 3 indirect use-phase emissions.100% Renewable Electricity: T-Mobile matches its own annual electrical usage with renewable energy from a portfolio of sources including: virtual power purchase agreements, a green direct program, renewable retail agreements, community solar agreements, and unbundled REC purchases.