Background: In addition to sequestering carbon, trees save energy by providing shade and reducing the urban heat island effect. In 2011, Atlantic City Electric (ACE) was one of three utilities to launch a partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation’s Energy-Saving Trees program. ACE continued its partnership in 2020 to expand the urban tree canopy to create shade, reduce urban heat-island impacts, and sequester carbon by donating trees to be strategically planted across the ACE region.
Action: In 2020, through our partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation’s Energy-Saving Trees program, ACE has provided more than 900 free trees to customers throughout South Jersey. As part of ACE’s commitment to a cleaner and brighter future, this partnership helps customers conserve energy, with the potential to lower energy bills by 15-30%.
GHG Impact: Since 2013, ACE planted or gave away 3,000 trees to more than 1,600 customers, sequestering an estimated 91,000 pounds of carbon equivalent to over 300,000 pounds of CO2. Over a 20-year period, the trees are projected to save approximately 220,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. In total, PHI has donated over 45,000 trees since, having an even larger greenhouse gas impact across all the areas we are privileged to serve.