Duke Energy, a Fortune 500 company, has selected Verizon Wireless as telecommunications partner for Envision: Charlotte, a first-of-its-kind, public-private collaboration to make the commercial buildings in Charlotte’s urban core more energy efficient. As part of the pact, Verizon (News - Alert) Wireless will provide the telecommunications network that will connect the digital meters, signs and media players that will be used in Envision: Charlotte.

Officials with Duke Energy (News - Alert) said that by using digital energy technologies connected by the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network, the company will gather and aggregate energy usage data from about 70 participating buildings in Charlotte’s 1.94 square mile I-277 inner-belt loop. The information will then be streamed to large interactive lobby-level screens provided by Cisco (News - Alert).

Company officials said that building tenants will see the nearly real-time commercial energy consumption data for the community and suggested actions they can take to reduce their personal energy usage in the office.

“We are pleased that Verizon Wireless (News - Alert) has joined along with Cisco in making this very important initiative possible,” said Vincent Davis, director of smart energy community projects at Duke Energy, in a statement.

 “The Envision: Charlotte project is important not only because of what it provides the community but because it uses the latest 4G technology in a manner that could have only been imagined a few years ago,” said Mark Bartolomeo, vice president, global enterprise sales of Verizon Wireless.

Bartolomeo said that Verizon Wireless is excited to be a part of such a cutting edge project that will surely become a benchmark for others who need the high speeds, low latency and reliability of LTE (News - Alert) network in the future.

“This is a real-life example of how machine-to-machine (M2M) technology is an effective way to empower people as they become stewards for energy savings,” he said.

Earlier in February, Verizon Wireless had announced that it invested more than $179.7 million in 2010 to enhance its network in Illinois.

The investment included 57 new cell sites, upgrading equipment on more than 560 existing cell sites to increase coverage and capacity of the company's voice and 3G high-speed wireless network, and prepping the backbone of the network for deploying 4G LTE across the state.