In response to Gov. Sonny Purdue’s recent request for Atlanta businesses to implement fuel conservation measures -- and increased demand from employees for such programs -- Georgia Power has stepped up efforts in its award-winning commuter choice SmartRide program.

The petition comes in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita which damaged Gulf Coast oil refineries, depleting the nation’s oil supply and sending gas prices soaring.

Georgia Power developed an informal commuter choice program in 1992 as a way to help employees reduce transportation costs. The program included subsidies for MARTA passes and one vanpool, and allowed a small group of employees to telecommute. Today, thirty-six percent of Georgia Power’s employees working in Atlanta participate in this program, and even more employees have recently requested space in the program to avoid higher commuting costs.

Georgia Power is among more than fifty FORTUNE 500 companies that will be recognized next week as a “Best Workplace for Commuters.”

The company has seen dramatic results from its SmartRide program. Single occupancy vehicle miles have been reduced by 1.2 million miles a month, contributing to 100,000 fewer gallons of petroleum burned annually, and CO2 and NOx emissions have been reduced by 4.8 tons a month.

“SmartRide not only saves fuel, it is a great program for our employees and a valuable recruitment tool for prospective employees,” said Georgia Power President and CEO Mike Garrett.

“Georgia Power is a pioneer in this area,” added SmartRide Special Projects Coordinator Jane Franklin. “We were one of the first major corporations in Atlanta to make a commitment to reduce single occupancy vehicle miles.”

The SmartRide program was officially launched in 1998 in the 13-county metro area, subsidizing 12 vanpools, offering incentives for carpoolers, and allowing more employees to telecommute and work compressed work schedules. Options that make SmartRide distinctive from other programs are a company shuttle service allowing employees easy access to the other downtown offices and shops with no parking issues; and a fleet of alternative fuel vehicles for check-out during the day for longer business or personal trips. The company currently operates 52 vanpools that serve approximately 550 employees – the largest program of any private organization in the United States. More than 1,250 employees work compressed schedules, telecommute or work from alternative locations closer to home; 150 employees participate in carpools, and another 315 workers take advantage of the company’s subsidized transit passes. In addition to these options, Georgia Power also has a robust fleet of 120 flex fuel vehicles powered by environmentally friendly fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol, and transports by shuttle more than 10,000 employees each month to various work locations to reduce individual car trips.

As more and more employees seek alternatives to combat rising gas prices, Georgia Power has plans to expand its SmartRide program to meet that demand. Future initiatives include increasing the number of vans to accommodate groups waiting to join a vanpool; encouraging managers to allow employees to work more flexible hours; maximizing the use of teleconferencing to reduce the need for face-to-face meetings; modifying work practices to limit the number of vehicles taken to a job site; eliminating unnecessary idling of company trucks at operating headquarters and job sites; and using remote technology in Georgia Power crew and service trucks to eliminate unnecessary trips.

Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the nation’s largest generators of electricity. The company is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility, serving customers in 57,000 of the state’s 59,000 square miles. Georgia Power’s rates are below the national average and its 2 million customers are in all but six of Georgia’s 159 counties.