Putting our commitment to the environment into action - learn about some of our green initiatives.
PECO is partnering with Natural Lands to provide grants to assist in a variety of open space projects.
Over the years, numerous municipalities, regional recreational authorities, and nonprofits in southeastern Pennsylvania have undertaken a variety of open space projects. Recognizing the importance of these initiatives, PECO is partnering with Natural Lands to provide grants to assist in these efforts. Eligible applicants include municipalities and regional recreational authorities within PECO’s suburban service territory, which includes portions of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and York Counties. Within the City of Philadelphia, incorporated nonprofit organizations are also eligible.
Through the PECO Green Region Open Space Program, PECO provides grant awards up to $10,000. A committee composed of county officials, conservation professionals, and PECO representatives review proposals and awards the grants annually. The grants must be used with funding from other sources and may cover expenses such as consulting fees, trail construction, land acquisition, habitat improvement, and/or the cost of creating and implementing an open space plan. More information about the 2020 grant round can be found in this brochure. PECO Green Region grant applications are only accepted through the online portal, which can be found at here. The application submission deadline for 2020 grant round funding requests is 5:00pm, Saturday, October 31, 2020.
Since PECO Green Region’s inception in 2004, over $2.3 million has been awarded across the region for a wide range of open space projects. If you are undertaking an open space project, we hope you’ll consider applying for a PECO Green Region grant. We hope that PECO Green Region funds will make a real difference as you work to preserve and protect farmland, watersheds, parks, and trails for this and future generations.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Estelle Wynn Dolan, administrator of the PECO Green Region Open Space Program, by calling 610-353-5587 ext. 213, or by email at edolan@natlands.org.
We are making upgrades to secure LEED certification for many of our buildings throughout the region.
Work has been completed to secure Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications for 12 of PECO's largest buildings across the region. In 2009 PECO completed construction of its first 'green' building in West Chester, Chester County. With the completion of energy efficiency measures at several locations, PECO has earned LEED Existing Buildings Operations + Maintenance Gold Certification at its Main Office Building, Baldwin, Christian Street, G & Luzerne, Plymouth and Warminster Service Buildings. LEED Existing Buildings Operations + Maintenance Silver Certification has been achieved at its Phoenixville Service Building and the Berwyn Campus. In 2016, PECO achieved LEED New Construction Certification for the new Plymouth Training School facility.
We are increasing the use of alternative fueled vehicles.
PECO continues to support the use of alternative fuel vehicles and encourages the use of new vehicle technologies. PECO operates a green fleet with hybrid, natural gas, flex fuel and biodiesel vehicles. In addition, PECO has several compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations and/or electric car charging stations at its service buildings. We continue to add electric and hybrid electric vehicle technology to our growing fleet of green vehicles. In addition to our two Chevy Volts, in 2014 we added 22 new Terex hybrid bucket trucks, expanding our fleet of sustainable vehicles to more than 800.
We are building an industry-leading green supply chain.
PECO is working to reduce the environmental impacts of the materials and services we procure, and to encourage the environmental performance of suppliers themselves. Our Supply organization includes environmental questions in sourcing requests. This allows PECO to evaluate the environmental performance of its suppliers.
PECO's parent company Exelon uses a number of environmental standards that are incorporated in its business processes, including standards for transformers, wire and cable, wood poles and the vehicle fleet. As one of the founders of the Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance (www.euissca.org), Exelon has become a national leader in supply chain-environmental management. Through the Alliance, Exelon has helped lead the development of industry standards for evaluating the environmental attributes of key materials and services as well as performance metrics for supplier companies. Exelon's Supply group continuously looks for opportunities to introduced eco-friendly products into the supply chain focusing on sustainability and materials total live cycle.
We are helping employees adopt green practices in the workplace and at home.
PECO has reduced greenhouse emissions by more than 54% since 2001 and has helped the environment through reduced use of natural resources, reduced waste disposal and fewer air contaminates. To achieve this, we have implemented programs including the replacement and repair of leaking sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) circuit breakers, improved building energy efficiency through Leadership in Environmental and Engineering Design (LEED) projects, gas distribution system leak reduction, purchase of renewable energy and increased recycling of metals, cardboard and office paper.
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a colorless, odorless, non-flammable, and non-toxic synthetic gas used in some switches and breakers. With a greenhouse gas impact 23,000 times that of CO2, PECO has reduced SF6 emissions by more than 64%.
PECO recycles office paper as well as bottles, cans, and cardboard at the majority of our facilities with buildings and employees. Recycling products helps to reduce the amount of energy and materials needed to create virgin product as well as reducing the amount of methane created by land filling these materials thus reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted. Under Exelon’s project HERE (Helping the Environment by Recycling at Exelon), PECO has increased the recycling of office waste since 2001, recycling over one million pounds in 2015.
PECO recycles materials such as metal and mineral oil that is generated during construction projects or other projects executed in building or maintaining the transmission and distribution system. Recycling these products helps to reduce the amount of energy and materials needed to create virgin product as well reducing the amount of methane created by land filling these materials thus reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted. PECO has increased the recycling of metals by more than 200% since 2001, recycling over 4 million pounds in 2015.
