Learn More

When you choose WGES natural gas in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington D.C., you offset your carbon footprint and help restore nature's balance. WGES matches WGES CleanSteps^® Carbon Offsets to your natural gas usage – 5% for residential customers and 3.5% for all commercial customers. You can choose to do even more and step up to 100% WGES CleanSteps^® Carbon Offsets. WGES CleanSteps^® Carbon Offsets supports existing clean air projects while providing funding for future projects.

WGES CleanSteps^® Carbon Offsets: Supporting Existing Clean Air and Water Projects, Funding Projects for the Future

1. Initial Projects. Our carbon offsets are initially sourced from two local projects:

• Reducing Truck Emissions: J.B. Hunt Transport Services takes trucks off of our highways and moves the goods via existing railways, cutting transportation-related emissions nearly in half.
• Limiting Landfill Greenhouse Gases: Methane produced by a landfill near Ocean City, Maryland is captured before it escapes into our atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas that's 23 times stronger than carbon dioxide.

2. New, Sustainable Projects Through the Carbon Reduction Fund. In September 2010, WGES and its clean-energy partner, Sterling Planet, established a "Carbon Reduction Fund" (CRF). The nonprofit Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) manages this fund. WGES contributes $4 and Sterling Planet contributes $2 to the Fund for every carbon offset purchased. From inception through December 2011, customer offset purchases have triggered contributions to the CRF totaling nearly $150,000.

Through the Fund, CBF develops projects that improve air and water quality, such as tree planting along the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. WGES friends and family came together for a day of volunteering to kick off planting at one of the first tree planting sites, Holly Beach, Maryland. As of December 2011, CRF projects have supported the planting of 4,400 trees on 22 acres of land.

The CRF also helps develop agricultural projects that reduce toxic runoff. With the support of CRF funds, in July 2011 CBF was one of only nine organizations in the country selected to receive a U.S, Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant that will focus on reducing greenhouse gases and improving water quality by working with area farmers.

These projects will generate carbon offsets that will continue to support cleaner air and water in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Enroll Now

For further information, please click on the links below:

• Project Descriptions
• Measurable Outcomes: Simple Steps, Big Impact
• Chesapeake Bay Recovery: Status Today