Aug 8 2013
BASF is the first business in the Chattanooga, Tennessee, metropolitan area to purchase home-grown renewable energy credits through the Green Power Switch’s large-scale purchase pilot program offered by the Electric Power Board (EPB) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Through the pilot initiative, BASF is matching its power consumption with renewable energy, while helping to build awareness and encourage others to promote the use of regional solar and low-impact hydro.
“BASF is committed to reducing its carbon footprint through a wide variety of sustainability initiatives,” said Robert Gagliano, Site Director for BASF in Chattanooga. “With TVA’s Green Power Switch, we are able to match 100 percent of the electricity we consume at our Polymer Drive facility. This investment in renewable energy resources and technologies helps ensure a better environment for future generations not only here in the Tennessee Valley, but across the world.”
Since 2009, BASF has been a supporter of TVA’s Green Power Switch. Once Green Power Switch’s large-scale purchase pilot, named Southeastern Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), was made available in Chattanooga, BASF sought the Champion level and joined the Green Power Switch “100 Percent Club.”
BASF continuously assesses its operating procedures to improve efficiencies and enhance environmental responsibilities. Recently, BASF was named the Green Power Switch Workplace Champion of the Year for its pledge to outstanding leadership in sustainability through employee engagement. In 2012, BASF developed a program that encourages employees to find improvements for issues relating to energy, safety and quality.
“EPB is happy to support BASF’s green initiatives, and we stand ready to support other business customers in reaching their goals, green or otherwise,” said David Wade, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at EPB.
Green Power Switch, the first program of its kind in the Southeast, gives consumers a simple way to directly support the region’s renewable resources. During 2013, TVA is working with a limited number of local utilities to link large-scale power consumers seeking to reduce their indirect carbon footprint with local generation resources through a new Green Power Switch pilot option.
The pilot, like its parent Green Power Switch program, is certified by the non-profit Center for Resource Solutions’ Green-e Energy program as meeting strict environmental and consumer protection standards. Green-e Energy provides information and an objective standard for consumers to compare renewable energy options, and to verify that consumers get what they pay for. More information on Green-e certification requirements can be found at 1-888-63-GREEN or www.green-e.org.
With its purchase, BASF is joining an elite group of early adopters in the region who are demonstrating outstanding leadership in the use of renewable energy to meet their sustainability goals.
EPB
In 1935, the City of Chattanooga established EPB as a nonprofit agency to provide electric power to the greater Chattanooga area. Today, EPB remains one of the largest publicly-owned electric power distributors in the country, serving more than 174,000 homes and businesses in a 600-square-mile area that includes greater Chattanooga and Hamilton County, portions of surrounding Tennessee counties and areas of North Georgia. Using a 100% fiber optic network as its backbone, EPB built a Smart Grid, a next-generation electric system that includes communication capabilities designed to reduce the impact of power outages, improve response time and allow customers greater control of their electric power usage. This same fiber optic backbone is allowing EPB to offer high-speed Internet, TV and phone service to business and residential customers community-wide. In September 2010, EPB became the first company in the United States to offer one gigabit-per-second Internet speed to the entire service territory.
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for business customers and local power distributors serving 9 million people in parts of seven southeastern states. TVA receives no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity. In addition to operating and investing its revenues in its electric system, TVA provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists local power companies and state and local governments with economic development and job creation.
Source: http://www.basf.com/