Gulf Power Company employees feel blessed to live along the Gulf Coast with all it has to offer — stately longleaf forests, rare wildlife, thriving wetlands and coastal breezes — so it’s natural for the company to want to help protect and nurture the local environment.

To celebrate Earth Day this year, Gulf Power employees are volunteering to help with a Project GreenShores cleanup effort organized by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday, April 22 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. along Bayfront Parkway in Pensacola.

Project GreenShores is a community partnership that created a habitat-rich, educational shoreline and water-quality restoration site along the shore of Pensacola Bay to serve as a model for other disturbed areas of shoreline.

“We feel it’s our responsibility to not only protect and maintain our local environment, but help it thrive for our children and generations to come,” said Gulf Power spokesperson Natalie Smith.

Below are a few more examples of the company’s commitment:

-Since 1992, Gulf Power has reduced overall air emissions by 85 percent. The utility has invested more than $1 billion in clean air technologies since 2005.

-Gulf Power’s first renewable energy generation facility, the Perdido Landfill Gas-to-Energy facility, has produced more than 83 million kilowatt hours of electricity, while removing methane gas from the environment.

-The company has recycled more than 7 billion gallons of reclaimed water at Plant Crist — reusing treated wastewater from the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority Central Water Reclamation Facility. This reduces river water consumption from Escambia River.

-Gulf Power has recycled and sold for beneficial construction re-use more than 300,000 tons of gypsum produced by the company’s advanced scrubber system at Plant Crist.  

-Through the Five Star Restoration Program, the utility has supported 11 Northwest Florida water restoration projects involving 46 different organizations. This includes Project GreenShores.

-For the past 10 years, Gulf Power-supported longleaf pine projects in Florida have helped restore more than 17,700 acres of longleaf forests, planting close to 10.2 million seedlings, and enhancing more than 122,000 acres of critical habitat in Northwest Florida in areas such as Blackwater River State Forest, Apalachicola National Forest, Eglin Air Force Base and on private and public lands.

The company also strives to be a good steward through energy efficiency. A recognized leader in energy efficiency, Gulf Power’s efficiency programs have saved more than 950 million kilowatt-hours over the last 40 years — enough to power 63,000 homes for one year.

Introduced in 2008, Gulf Power’s EarthCents energy efficiency programs provide rebates, tools and advice to help customers make smart choices about energy use while reducing greenhouse gases. Since its inception, nearly 90,000 customers have participated in the EarthCents programs.

For more information on Gulf Power’s environmental efforts, visit the company’s new stewardship website at gulfpower.com/community/stewardship.

Gulf Power Company is an investor-owned electric utility with all of its common stock owned by Atlanta-based Southern Company. Gulf Power serves more than 436,000 customers in eight counties throughout Northwest Florida. The company’s mission is to safely provide exceptional customer value by delivering reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible electricity while strengthening our communities. Visit online at GulfPower.com or on the company’s Facebook page, “Gulf Power Company.”
 

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