July 25, 2007—Joined by customers, environmental leaders, and policymakers, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) recently announced the launch of ClimateSmart—a voluntary program that will provide customers the option to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions associated with their energy use. As part of the program’s launch, the company opened a competitive process to solicit offers for California-based offset projects.
Approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), ClimateSmart is a voluntary program where PG&E’s residential and business customers can help to fund environmental projects aimed at removing greenhouse gases (GHG) from the air or avoiding the emissions in the first place. Customers who enroll will pay a separate amount on their monthly utility bills to remove or avoid the equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2) associated with their energy use—thus making them “climate neutral.”
The amount a customer will pay for ClimateSmart will be determined after a calculation of exactly how many pounds of greenhouse gas emissions the customer’s electricity and natural gas usage produces. Prior to enrolling, all customers can view an estimate of their carbon emissions via a new carbon footprint calculator on PG&E’s ClimateSmart Web site.
PG&E has enrolled as the first participant in ClimateSmart by committing more than $1.5 million of shareholder funding over the next three years to make the energy use in the company’s offices, service centers, maintenance facilities, and other company buildings completely climate neutral.
To date, more than 700 PG&E employees and residential and business customers have reportedly joined ClimateSmart in an early enrollment effort. Participating customers include Longs Drugs Stores, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, New Resource Bank, Bear Valley Mountain Resort, Waldeck’s Office Supply, The Front Porch restaurant, and the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy.
PG&E anticipates that ClimateSmart will receive approximately $20 million in its first three years, with a goal of removing two million tons of CO2 from the air. This reduction would be the equivalent of taking 350,000 cars off the road for one year, estimates the company.
PG&E says it created ClimateSmart as a supplement to its overall climate protection and environmental leadership strategy. For more information visit the ClimateSmart Web site.
