Cox Communications has completed a fuel cell project in Orange (News - Alert) County, Calif., through a partnership with UTC Power, a United Technologies Corp., company.

According to company sources, the Orange County installation follows two more fuel cell projects that were announced in January at Cox’s (News - Alert) San Diego location. The three installations together produce enough clean energy to power 1,200 average-sized homes as it generates a total of 1.6 megawatts.

The Cox Conserves program is responsible for the fuel cell projects and the program is designed to bring down the company’s carbon footprint by 20 percent by 2017. It also promotes eco-friendly relations among employees, communities and other corporations, said official sources.

In a release, Jay Rolls, senior vice president of technology at Cox Communications, said, “At Cox Communications, we're deploying technology that benefits our customers and our communities. The fuel cells enable us to be good environmental stewards, as well as embrace a technology that positively impacts our operating costs.”

The 800kW Orange County installation is located at Cox Communications’ Rancho Santa Margarita facility. It caters to nearly 60 percent of the building’s electricity requirement. Also company sources confirmed that this is Cox Communications’ second alternative energy project in the area, along with a 100kW photovoltaic (PV) rooftop solar array.

Together the two projects consisting of alternative energy installations in Rancho Santa Margarita offset the annual amount of pollution produced by more than 850 cars.

Cox Communications is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises and participates in Cox Conserves, a national sustainability program launched by the company. Cox Enterprises’ alternative energy projects prevent nearly 21,000 tons of greenhouse gases from polluting the environment annually.

Keith Mask, assistant vice president of energy management and engineering, Cox Enterprises, said, “The fuel cells at our Cox Communications facilities in California represent an important step in our overall Cox Conserves program. The three new alternative energy installations are making a substantial impact on helping us reach Cox Conserves’ goal.”

Cox Conserves strives to control Cox Enterprises’ energy consumption by leveraging the use of renewable forms of energy, conserving natural resources and inspiring eco-friendly behavior. The program encourages 60,000 employees and their families to be eco-friendly.

Besides Reliance Globalcom (News - Alert), Cox Communications recently announced its support for IPv6. The company is also actively conducting trials with Cox Business (News - Alert) customers and proposes to extend the trials to its residential product line.