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City Light Named Climate Action Leader for Third Year

For the third year in a row, Seattle City Light’s work to inventory all its greenhouse gas emissions met one of the most rigorous voluntary reporting standards in the country.

For the third year in a row, Seattle City Light’s work to inventory all its greenhouse gas emissions met one of the most rigorous voluntary reporting standards in the country. City Light’s efforts earned it designation as a Climate Action Leader by the California Climate Action Registry.

“As a hydroelectric utility, climate change represents a serious threat to our future energy supplies, so Seattle City Light is committed to operating in an environmentally sensitive manner,” Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said. “Since 2005, we have fully offset all our greenhouse gas emissions, the only U.S. utility to achieve that distinction. Certification by the California Climate Action Registry confirms that we are calculating our emissions correctly.”

The California Climate Action Registry is a private, non-profit organization originally formed by the state of California. It serves as a voluntary greenhouse gas registry to protect and promote early actions by organizations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. It is recognized as a standard setter for tracking and reporting greenhouse gas emissions.

“The Seattle City Council has set carbon neutrality as a priority,” said Councilmember Bruce Harrell, chair of the Council’s Energy, Technology and Civil Rights Committee.  “It is gratifying to see City Light achieve this third-party validation for its efforts.” 

City Light measures, reports, and verifies its greenhouse gas emissions through the registry as an independent, third party. Compiling this inventory is an important first step before the utility can offset that impact with greenhouse gas reductions elsewhere, such as supporting electric shore power for cruise ships in the Port of Seattle.

“We are thrilled that Seattle City Light has earned the status of Climate Action Leader.  We believe that its example helps set a positive tone and a meaningful standard of energy efficiency for the utility industry across the nation,” said Gary Gero, president of the Climate Action Reserve, parent organization to the California Climate Action Registry.

The latest certification covers City Light’s greenhouse gas inventory for 2009. The registry previously certified the utility’s work for 2007 and 2008, including revisions that City Light recently submitted for 2007.

Seattle City Light is the 10th largest public electric utility in the United States.  It has some of the lowest cost customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and environmentally responsible power to nearly 1 million Seattle area residents.  City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.