Would you like your electrons in burnt orange or maroon?
In a deal put together by sponsorship broker IMG College and Branded Retail Energy, a Dallas-based company that markets electricity through affinity partnerships, the schools will create university-branded power companies. Texas Longhorns Energy and Texas A&M Aggies Energy will begin selling electricity and natural gas to consumers in deregulated markets in the state next month.
“We’re very conscientious about our brand. We want to be careful with that logo and that symbol,” University of Texas Senior Associate Athletic Director Chris Plonsky said. “When BRE and IMG brought it to us, we went ‘Huh?’ But it made sense because the issue of sustainability, especially on large college campuses that use a lot of energy, is important to us.”
That was the hook — pardon the pun, Hook ‘Em Horns’ fans — to the whole deal. Texas Longhorns Energy will be powered by one of the nation’s top retail electricity providers, Champion Energy Services, and will provide renewable green energy to alumni and fans in deregulated regions of Texas. Each new customer account will generate funds for sustainability initiatives for the respective schools.
“I haven’t come across a university president yet who didn’t have a committee on sustainability,” says Larry Weil, chief marketing officer for Branded Retail Energy.
And to think I once considered university-branded credit cards to be a tad on the excessive side. I presume that “sustainability” here means “new and innovative revenue streams for the athletics department, so we can keep up with the Joneses”. I’d ask what could possibly be next, but I’m afraid to find out. Via Consumerist.