Dependent: Downstream tenant electricity (Scope 3 cat 13) Crown Castle identifies downstream electricity that powers customers' equipment on its towers, small cells and fiber as a primary Scope 3 driver. The company is working with customers to formulate strategies to reduce these value-chain emissions, while a comprehensive Scope 3 inventory is being finalized.
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Primary: Shared infrastructure / colocation model The core decarb strategy is the shared infrastructure model: one tower or fiber asset serves multiple tenants, reducing materials, energy and emissions vs single-tenant builds. The company argues its carbon intensity (0.97 tCO2e per $1B EV) is 80x lower than the S&P 500 average.
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Switched Scope 2 reporting from location- to market-based Scope 2 emissions were calculated using market-based method in 2022; prior years used location-based. Refers readers to ESG data tables for comparable location-based figures.
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Added iDAS venue electricity to Scope 2 For 2022, estimated Crown Castle electricity consumption at certain iDAS venues that previously had not been included where venue operator supplied electricity.
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68% renewable electricity via PPAs from US solar and wind farms In 2022, ~114,000 MWh (68%) of Crown Castle's ~168,000 MWh annual electricity consumption was from renewable sources. By 2023 the company had contracted ~144,000 MWh (~85% of projected consumption), including supporting development of a new 50 MW solar farm (March 2023) and procuring renewable energy contracts from a recently constructed 300 MW wind farm. Renewables are central to the path toward the 2025 carbon-neutral Scope 1+2 goal.
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Primary: Fleet diesel and gasoline reduction Fleet (diesel + gasoline) represents 30% of Scope 1+2 emissions and is the largest Scope 1 source at 9,679 tCO2e in 2022. Identified as a primary lever for further reduction within own operations.
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Dependent: Purchased goods and services (Scope 3 cat 1) Purchased goods and services are flagged as one of the three primary Scope 3 drivers alongside downstream tenant electricity and capital goods. Supplier engagement is part of the value-chain decarb plan.
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Scope 3 inventory under development Crown Castle is finalizing a comprehensive Scope 3 inventory to enable public reporting; identifies downstream electricity (tenant), capital goods (fiber construction), and purchased goods/services as the primary drivers.
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Primary: LED tower lighting upgrades Crown Castle is converting tower lighting to energy-efficient LEDs. 60% of the 12,117 lit towers were upgraded by end of 2022, up from 57% in 2021 and 53% in 2020. This reduces tower electricity use, the largest single Scope 2 source (24% of S1+S2).
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Removed leased POP electricity from Scope 2 boundary Prior to 2022 the electricity consumption calculation for fiber POPs included adjustments for PUE for leased POP locations. Determined Crown Castle does not have operational control over leased POPs; 2022 calculation reflects auxiliary energy only at owned POPs, meaning prior years were overstated.
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