Environmental Compliance
PHI’s Environmental Management System establishes an in-depth approach for ensuring all operations are conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Operations personnel receive appropriate training with respect to environmental requirements. Improvement goals are set annually. Compliance officers—individuals accountable for compliance—are designated at each location and self-inspections and third-party audits are conducted regularly.
PHI’s policy is to conduct its operations with no violations. During 2004, our continuous improvement efforts resulted in a 28 percent reduction in regulatory citations. A significant influence in achieving this result was the use of Powder River Basin coal at BL England Station, which led to reduced emissions of priority pollutants while electric output increased. Emission reductions will continue in the future as a result of an agreement with New Jersey to retire the station by the end of 2007.
Another PHI improvement goal during 2004 was implementing a raptor and migratory-bird-protection program. The program not only protects our rich avian resources, but also improves the reliability of our electric service. The program includes the use of state-of-the-art standards for bird protection in new construction and retrofitting existing structures where necessary to prevent bird mortalities.
PHI companies continue to assist the mid-Atlantic region in which we operate with achieving compliance with federal ambient-air-quality standards. To enable our communities to make a difference, PHI affiliate Pepco Energy Services (PES) offers a choice of energy supplied from renewable energy resources and natural-gas-fueled sources. During 2004, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and many other federal agencies, as well as private companies, purchased renewable energy from PES. PES provides renewable energy from biomass, landfill methane and wind-generation resources. Conectiv Energy continues to offer wholesale energy from state-of-the-art, natural-gas-fueled generating facilities and continues its membership in the Power Tree Company, an industry consortium for sequestering CO2 through reforestation.
During 2004, PHI displaced 387,000 gallons of gasoline in our diesel powered vehicles with the use of bio-diesel fuel, a renewable fuel with inherently low emissions of ozone precursors and CO2.
