AT&T announced today it will invest up to $565 million as part of a long-term strategy to put more than 15,000 alternative-fuel vehicles on the road over the next 10 years. AT&T expects to spend an estimated $350 million to purchase about 8,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles and approximately $215 million to begin replacing its passenger cars with alternative-fuel models.

AT&T says its investment represents the largest U.S. corporate commitment to CNG vehicles to date. The new deployments will bring AT&T's alternative-fuel fleet to more than 15,000 vehicles by 2019.

Last month, UPS said it added 300 CNG delivery trucks to its fleet in seven cities in Colorado, Georgia, Oklahoma and California. UPS first began deploying trucks powered by CNG in the 1980s, purchasing traditional gas- or diesel-driven vehicles and then converting them to run on compressed gas. UPS previously was using 800 CNG vehicles worldwide.

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Ann Arbor, Mich., estimates that the new AT&T vehicles will save 49 million gallons of gasoline and reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons over the 10-year deployment period. That is equivalent to removing the emissions from more than 38,600 traditional passenger vehicles for a year.

Over the next five years, AT&T will replace about 8,000 gasoline-powered service vehicles with vehicles powered by domestically available CNG. CNG vehicles are expected to emit approximately 25% less greenhouse gas emissions than those traditionally powered by gasoline.

The vehicle chassis will be built domestically by a U.S. automotive manufacturer. AT&T will then work with domestic suppliers to convert the chassis to run on CNG. AT&T will also work with natural gas service providers to build up to 40 new CNG fueling stations across its operating region to provide the fueling infrastructure needed for the new vehicles.

As it begins to retire gasoline-powered passenger vehicles in its fleet, AT&T will replace them with alternative-fuel models. AT&T expects to replace 7,100 passenger cars used by employees over the next 10 years. The alternative-fuel vehicles are expected to offer up to a 39% improvement in fuel economy and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 29%.

During the initial phase of the deployment, gasoline-powered passenger vehicles will be replaced with hybrid models. As technologies evolve, additional alternative-fuel vehicle types will be considered for inclusion.

"Economic times are tough, but tough times make it even more important to look for efficient solutions," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T's chairman and CEO. "This is part of a long-term strategy that will help us continue to cut operating costs, reduce emissions in the communities we serve and make our business even more sustainable."

In 2009, AT&T will deploy nearly 800 of the CNG and hybrid electric vehicles. A Green Technology insignia will make the vehicles easy to identify on the road. The new CNG/passenger vehicle commitment follows AT&T's deployment of 105 alternative-fuel vehicles in more than 30 U.S. cities in June 2008. In addition, AT&T piloted four Ford Escape hybrids, which were deployed in late 2007 in California.