Sustainable Cities and Communities

As more and more customers begin exercising more control over how and where their energy is produced, utilities have a responsibility to make the appropriate infrastructure investments that will optimize smart grid benefits for all stakeholders.

Historically, most utility capital investments focused on regulated generation and transmission assets that provided the basis for customer rates structures and returns. But the growing interconnectivity within utility assets and electric distribution networks now requires a more holistic approach to planning, and many regulators are requiring utilities to invest in distribution under similar reliability mandates to those governing generation and transmission markets.

Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading nonprofit that envisions a country in which every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live, will rally thousands of volunteers at events across the country on and around Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, as part of its annual Great American Cleanup.

KeyBank has provided a $6.5 million bridge loan to Harmony Housing, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing safe, clean and comfortable affordable rental housing throughout the United States. Key has provided financing solutions to Harmony Housing since 2014, financing 25 of its last 28 transactions.

The city of El Lago, Texas, has been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a “Green Power Community.” El Lago, the only city in Texas to currently hold this recognition, is collectively using more than 1.2 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually from Green Mountain Energy.

For more than 30 years, we’ve been at the forefront of mobile technology – and we’re just getting started. Stemming from our industry expertise and long-time commitment to research and development, we are uniquely positioned to empower designers and developers to create new possibilities for our rapidly evolving world. We are at the hub of 5G innovation, spearheading the research efforts that will create the next global wireless revolution – just as we pioneered many of the building blocks for 3G and 4G.

Answering the call for increasing energy self-reliance, a grassroots electricity-sharing model is emerging. “Community microgrids,” comprising community-owned or subscribed solar PV and other renewable energy sources, offer participants and surrounding consumers the security of energy resilience in times of grid failure and protection from energy price increases driven by volatile energy markets.

We are at the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, defined by its velocity and volume, scope and scale, and systems impact. The foundation of this new era is squarely built upon the success of the "digital grid." The first three revolutions—defined by the introduction of steam and mechanization, electricity and computing, respectively—all had profound societal impacts, but they lacked the exponential rate of technological breakthroughs and complexity that define the fourth.

Urban resilience is so much more than disaster preparedness—a truly resilient approach is one that is proactive not just reactive. That’s why today more and more companies and organizations are putting resiliency at the forefront of their responsibility efforts.

Keep America Beautiful, the national nonprofit that envisions a country in which every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live, today announced a partnership with Hubbub’s Neat Streets campaign to end cigarette butt litter in a creative and interactive way. Keep America Beautiful’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program will pilot Hubbub’s Ballot Bin receptacles in five locations across the United States this spring.