Carbon-free electricity is now a reality for Vicinity Energy and residents of Baltimore; as the company has ensured that all of its operations in Baltimore District are powered from renewable sources.
Firstly, the company announced this Tuesday that it entered into an agreement with Constellation; leading energy provider, to purchase Emission-Free Energy Certificates (EFECs) to match 100% of its annual Baltimore electricity use; starting this year.
Secondly, this move will have a substantial impact on CO2 emissions; as Vicinity Energy is the owner of the nation’s largest portfolio of district energy systems. The company centrally produces and distributes steam, hot water, and chilled water to over 30 million square feet of building space in Baltimore.
Thirdly, this is not the first effort to go carbon-free by the company; in fact, through a long-term supply agreement, over 50% of the steam delivered to customers was already derived from zero carbon, non-fossil fuel sources. Consequently, Vicinity Energy was already offsetting around 30,000 tons of CO2, annually.
However, with thew purchasing of EFECs, and 100% carbon-free electricity to run its heating and cooling operations; the company will lessen its carbon footprint even more by offsetting 6,500 metric tons of CO2 emissions each tear; this is the equivalent of taking 1,415 cars off the road per year.
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Carbon-free electricity coming from facilities in the PJM interconnection
In addition, the company highlights that, its transition and purchase from Constellation means that 75-80% of Vicinity’s cooling operations and 90% of electricity for its heating operations in Baltimore will be emissions-free.
On the other hand, about the matter, Bill DiCroce, CEO of Vicinity Energy, said. “Simply put, we can now purchase electricity generated without fossil fuels to run our Baltimore operations. We have also been able to source our electricity from emissions-free sources.”
He also remarked. “As we enter Baltimore’s famously hot summers, this will have a significant beneficial impact on our cooling operations; slashing carbon emissions, improving air quality, and also moving us tangibly toward our overall goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions across our entire business by 2050.”
Finally, about the EFECs purchased, the company also notes that they represent the emissions-free attributes of generating sources that do not directly emit GHG gases; consequently, the EFECs purchased by Vicinity Energy are sourced from facilities located in the PJM Interconnection.
