Company reduces carbon footprint with green power
BRYN MAWR, Pa. -- (Business Wire)
Aqua America, Inc. (NYSE: WTR) announced today that the volume of its
green power purchases have qualified it for membership in the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Green Power Partnership. The
company is now using nearly 13 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green
power annually, which is enough green power to meet 4 percent of the
organization’s electricity use and qualify it as a Green Power Partner.
Aqua America is buying Green-e Energy Certified renewable energy
certificates (RECs) from Constellation, a competitive energy supplier,
offering electricity, natural gas, solar and renewable energy products
and services to homes and businesses across the U.S. and Canada. Aqua
America’s green power purchase demonstrates a proactive choice to
support cleaner renewable energy alternatives. The company’s green power
purchases are primarily of wind energy.
“This is a great honor and we are proud to be recognized by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” said Aqua America Chairman and
CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis. “Our green power purchase is another step in
our sustainability efforts. It helps affirm for other businesses across
the U.S. that supporting clean sources of electricity is a sound
business decision and an important choice in reducing climate risk.”
Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally
preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas,
biomass, and low-impact hydro. Using green power accelerates the
development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide and helps to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector.
“EPA is excited to welcome Aqua America, Inc. as a Green Power Partner
and applauds the company’s purchase of green power,” said Blaine
Collison, Director of EPA’s Green Power Partnership. “Using renewable
energy can be one of the most effective ways that a company can address
its carbon footprint, and we encourage other organizations to follow
Aqua America's lead.”
According to the U.S. EPA, Aqua America'sgreen power use of
nearly 13 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions of nearly 2,000 passenger vehicles per year, or the CO2
emissions from the electricity use of more than 1,000 average American
homes annually.
Aqua America’s Green Power Partnership is the latest in a series of
green announcements the company has made since last year. The company
has solar power installations at four of its treatment facilities and
recently announced its intention to transition much if its Pennsylvania
vehicle fleet to compressed natural gas. One of its non-regulated
subsidiaries has constructed a water pipeline to deliver water to shale
gas drillers eliminating thousands of truck trips from rural roadways.
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages
organizations to use green power as a way to reduce the environmental
impacts associated with electricity use. The Partnership currently has
more than 1,400 Partner organizations voluntarily purchasing billions of
kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety
of leading organizations such as Fortune 500® companies,
small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal
governments, and colleges and universities. For additional information,
please visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.
Aqua America is one of the largest U.S.-based, publicly-traded water
utilities and serves almost 3 million residents in Pennsylvania,
Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio,
Texas and Virginia. Aqua America is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange under the ticker symbol WTR. Visit www.aquaamerica.com
for more information.
WTRG
Contacts:
Aqua America, Inc.
Donna Alston
Manager, Communications
610-645-1095
484-368-4720
dpalston@aquaamerica.com
Source: Aqua America, Inc.
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