T-Mobile has topped Green America's sustainability scorecard for the third year in a row.

The nonprofit released its wireless scorecard on clean energy use and reduction of greenhouse gasses, but it was focusing more on the bottom than the top, leading with the news that Verizon was at the bottom of the list.

T-Mobile leads due to its plan to reach 100% renewables by 2021, while Verizon trails due to what Green America said is only an estimated 3-5% renewables, though it has announced a new wind energy project that should boost that number.

Sprint was in second place given its goal of 100% clean energy by 2025 and its first project to provide 30% renewables. But given the merger of the number one and two wireless carriers — at least in terms of renewables — T-Mobile has signaled it will issue a new joint plan for 100% renewables.

AT&T gets credit for acquiring over 1.5 gigawatts of renewables since 2018, or what Green America said is an estimated quarter of its total use. But it got demerits for "the only telecom without a public target or timeline on clean energy."

"Verizon is supporting the transition to a greener grid by making substantial investments in renewable energy. We have set an ambitious goal to source or generate renewable energy equivalent to 50% of our total annual electricity consumption by 2025 and working toward achieving this goal by developing green energy at our own operations and by facilitating the development of renewable energy through long-term power purchase agreements," said the company in response to the scorecard. "Verizon is also actively working to improve the energy efficiency of our operations, including our global network, with the goal to be carbon neutral in our operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 2035 and will be announcing an approved science-based target no later than September 2021.

"Today we announced that we've joined The Climate Pledge - the commitment co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism to meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early - which gives us another opportunity to work together with like-minded organizations to expedite our combined efforts." 

It appears that Layer3 TV’s field techs will be riding in style while also doing something positive for the environment. 

Amplifying its policies around power savings and energy efficiency, Layer3 TV, the Denver-based “next generation” cable operator, confirmed that it has added the BMW i3, an electric-powered vehicle, to its service fleet.

Pictured is a BMW i3 outfitted with Layer3 TV’s branding that was parked late last week near the company’s new Denver headquarters. A spy on the street there passed the image along to Multichannel News.

Layer3 TV said the vehicle is the first installment of the company’s Field Operations Organization (FOO). It’s not clear how many BMW i3’s will eventually become part of Layer3 TV’s fleet, but an industry source indicated that there could be a larger engagement afoot between the emerging pay TV operator and the car maker. Layer3 TV isn’t commenting on its relationship with BMW.

According to BMW data on the i3, it was recognized as one of Kelley Blue Book’s ten top “Green Cars,” can travel 81 miles per charge, or up to 150 miles with a “range extender.” Per the car maker, buyers are eligible for a tax credit of up to $7,500. The baseline i3 carries a starting MSRP of $42,400, while the vehicle with the range extender starts at $46,250.  

Layer3 TV’s selection of the BMW i3 factors into the company’s broader commitment to the environment and sustainability.

Company co-founder and CTO David Fellows recently joined the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers’ Energy 2020 initiative in the role of “chief scientist.” Fellows, a cable industry vet late of Comcast, AT&T Broadband and Scientific Atlanta, noted that the time that a goal of Layer3 TV is to be “the greenest cable company in the world.” Eric Kuhn, Layer3 TV’s head of marketing, meanwhile, is on the council of Earth Justice, a non-profit environmentally-focused law organization.

Details about Layer3 TV’s fleet vehicle selection comes as the company makes progress on the deployment front. It has launched, on schedule, limited user trials in several markets. Layer3 TV, however, has not identified the locations of those trials nor discussed in great detail its grander go-to-market strategy.

However, Layer3 TV, which has raised about $80 million via two rounds of funding, did drop some hints in a recent FCC filing indicating that it will operate as an MVPD. A Pace-made IP set-top for Layer3 TV has also passed through the FCC.

Time Warner Cable said it plans to reduce its carbon intensity by 30% by the end of 2016.

Tied in, the MSO said it measures all three emissions scopes laid out by Greenhouse Gas (GHG) protocol, a broadly used international accounting tool to manage greenhouse gas emissions. TWC will assess its carbon intensity starting early 2015 and focus reduction efforts on fleet management and energy efficiency.

Earlier this year, TWC said it had achieved a 38% carbon intensity reduction, surpassing a 15% two-year goal set in 2012.

The new goal includes a plan to invest in fuel efficient vehicles and continue strategic partnerships such as EPA Clean Cities Clean Fleets. In addition, the company will aim to reduce cooling power consumption, pursue LEED elements in all new buildings and seek new renewable energy opportunities.

Also by 2016, TWC plans to complete its first Water Footprint Analysis with the goal of developing a water-usage reduction plan.

"TWC had great results in our previous goal to reduce carbon intensity so we’ve doubled our goal to 30 percent for 2015 through 2016,” said David Flessas, Time Warner Cable’s SVP of network operations and executive lead of TWC’s Go Green initiative. "TWC is committed to making a positive impact on our environment and will continue to raise awareness about sustainability and environmental issues. We’re excited about the new goal and look forward to bolstering our efforts in the green space.”

Separately, the SCTE’s Energy 2020 initiative has established targets that include a 20% reduction of power consumption a unit basis, a 25% reduction in energy costs on a unit basis, a 10% reduction of grid dependency and an optimization of technical facility and data center footprints by 20%