NW Natural Donates $25,600 to Oregon Parks on Behalf of New Smart Energy Customers
Media contact: media@nwnatural.com; 503-818-9845 (pager)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2020
PORTLAND, Ore. — NW Natural recently made a $25,600 donation to Oregon Parks Forever, formerly known as Oregon State Parks Foundation, in recognition of customers who signed up for NW Natural’s Smart Energy program in 2020.
Smart Energy now has more than 60,000 Oregon and Southwest Washington residential and business customers enrolled in the voluntary carbon offset program.
Smart Energy customers offset the carbon emissions from their natural gas use through projects that reduce or prevent the release of greenhouse gases, such as farms that capture methane from cow manure or organic waste, and harness it as a renewable energy source.
“We’re proud to donate to Oregon Parks Forever on behalf of our Smart Energy customers,” said Brian Harney, Smart Energy program manager. “Not only are our customers fighting climate change by reducing their environmental impact, they are helping to preserve and protect our state parks for all Oregonians and those who visit our state.”
Since 2011, NW Natural has donated nearly $150,000 to Oregon Parks Forever. The annual donation is also funded in part by NW Natural’s Corporate Philanthropy Fund from shareholders.
“We’re so grateful to NW Natural for this year’s donation and their longtime support of our beloved parks,” said Seth Miller, executive director, Oregon Parks Forever. “Donations like this are especially important this year as we serve more visitors for ‘socially distanced’ activities like hiking and biking, and we try to recover and rebuild from the wildfires.”
NW Natural was the first stand-alone gas utility to offer its customers a voluntary carbon offset program. Since the program began in 2007, participating customers have funded emission reductions of over one million metric tons — equivalent to more than 200,000 cars removed from the road for a year.
NW Natural works with The Climate Trust to ensure that only verified high-quality offsets are purchased and retired for the Smart Energy program. To learn more about NW Natural’s Low Carbon Pathway visit LessWeCan.com. To sign up for Smart Energy, visit nwnatural.com/Smart.
NW Natural provides natural gas service to approximately two million people in more than 140 communities through 770,000 meters in Oregon and Southwest Washington with one of the most modern pipeline systems in the nation. It consistently leads the industry with high J.D. Power & Associates customer satisfaction scores. NW Natural is part of Northwest Natural Holding Company, (NYSE: NWN) (NW Natural Holdings), which is headquartered in Portland, Oregon and owns NW Natural, NW Natural Water Company, and other business interests and activities. For more information, visit nwnatural.com.