PECO, Natural Lands Trust Award $150,000 to Green Projects
PECO, an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, is helping to make 18 local communities even greener with $150,000 in funding as part of Green Region, its municipal open space grant program.
The program provides grants for projects focusing on open space preservation, improvements to parks and recreation resources, and conservation.
In addition to these grants, this year the company also is providing $30,000 to the two local municipalities that have best involved their communities in their Green Region-funded projects. These two $15,000 grants will be presented in September. All past green region grant projects will be considered.
In partnership with Natural Lands Trust, the region’s largest land conservation organization, PECO will award grants to (in Bucks County) Newtown, Plumstead, and Warrington, $10,000 each; and Yardley, $4,560; (in Chester County) East Fallowfield, Franklin, and Thornbury, $10,000 each; (in Delaware County) Parkside and Yeardon, $5,000 each; Rutledge and Upper Darby, $10,000 each; (in Montgomery County) Collegeville, Hatfield, North Whales, and Trappe $7,500 each; Lower Merion, $5,000, and Whitpain, $10,000; (in the city of Philadelphia) Fairmount Park Conservancy, $10,000.
PECO’s Green Region program is part of a broader initiative to preserve the environment and help customers become more environmentally responsible. Totaling more than $15.3 million, the comprehensive program also includes the installation of a green roof and a new Crown Lights system at the company’s Center City headquarters; the opening of the first "green building" in West Chester, recently awarded silver certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED); improvements to secure LEED certification for many other company work sites; and the increased use of hybrid and biodiesel vehicles.
These efforts are a component of Exelon 2020: A Low-Carbon Roadmap, the comprehensive environmental plan of PECO’s parent company. Exelon 2020 sets the goal of reducing, offsetting, or displacing more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2020. The corporation will do this by reducing or offsetting the company’s carbon footprint, helping customers reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and providing more low carbon electricity in the marketplace.