COMMUNITY BENEFIT
Clean Energy Columbus provides environmental, health, and economic benefits to our community while maintaining your choice.
Improved health, better quality of life, equitable opportunity for generations to come. That’s why clean energy matters for Columbus. The Clean Energy Columbus program provides benefit and value to the greater Columbus community in a variety of ways.
Clean Energy & Sustainability
Through Clean Energy Columbus, our community is able to make a large, rapid shift to clean energy helping reduce emissions and improve our environment. Based on estimated participation rates, the program is expected to reduce emissions by 1.4 metric tons – that’s the equivalent of taking over 300,000 cars off our roads!
The program will go a long way in supporting our community’s long-term climate and sustainability goal – to be Carbon Neutral by 2050. Through the program, the City receives a Community Grant that will be reinvested in our community around sustainability and climate. We know climate change is a social and racial justice issue, and its effects disproportionately impact our black, brown and economically challenged communities. With a particular focus on equity, that investment will seek to benefit our most vulnerable residents and those on the frontlines of climate change.
Clean Energy Jobs
The Clean Energy Columbus Program will support thousands of good-paying jobs with benefits, as well as seek to support and create a local, diverse workforce pipeline into the clean energy industry here in Columbus. Over 4,000 jobs will be supported in the State of Ohio through the construction and maintenance of new wind and solar assets to power our homes and small businesses. With the launch of the program, AEP Energy has hired 20 Full-Time Employees for the Customer Care Center located right here in Columbus, and is working with partners like IMPACT Community Action and the Columbus Urban League to recruit nearly 70 Seasonal Advocates into a pipeline for potential permanent employment in the clean energy sector.
As part of the program, the City of Columbus and AEP Energy will be forming a Clean Energy Workforce Development Committee with dedicated annual funding, intended to support the development of a local, diverse workforce pipeline around clean energy and energy efficiency.
Clean Energy Jobs
The Clean Energy Columbus Program will support thousands of good-paying jobs with benefits, as well as seek to support and create a local, diverse workforce pipeline into the clean energy industry here in Columbus. Over 4,000 jobs will be supported in the State of Ohio through the construction and maintenance of new wind and solar assets to power our homes and small businesses. With the launch of the program, AEP Energy has hired 20 Full-Time Employees for the Customer Care Center located right here in Columbus, and is working with partners like IMPACT Community Action and the Columbus Urban League to recruit nearly 70 Seasonal Advocates into a pipeline for potential permanent employment in the clean energy sector.
As part of the program, the City of Columbus and AEP Energy will be forming a Clean Energy Workforce Development Committee with dedicated annual funding, intended to support the development of a local, diverse workforce pipeline around clean energy and energy efficiency.
Choice
With a multitude of options on the energy supply market, the City’s program is intended as a service to residents and small businesses. The City will always strive to offer the best value program, balancing rates, clean energy, and community benefit. Participation in the Clean Energy Columbus program is always voluntary, and there are no fees or penalties associated with opting-out or with choosing to participate. It’s your choice.
Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator
When you enter electric (kWh) data, the calculator converts your entered values to carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions based on emission factors for electricity reductions (In this case renewable energy produced through the Columbus Aggregation). It then displays equivalent ways to express those emissions. Translating abstract measurements into concrete terms you can understand, such as the annual emissions from cars, households, or power plants.
Per the EPA.gov site: Please note that these estimates are approximate and intended for communication purposes. They should not be used for emission inventories, formal carbon footprints, or formal emissions analysis. See Other Resources for additional tools that EPA maintains for emissions analysis and Other Calculators for additional calculators that EPA maintains.
For additional information, see the equations and sources used for this calculator on the Calculations and References page. https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references
How to use the calculator
- Click the Calculator to the right of the screen. This will take you to the EPA’s site to use the calculator.
- Using a kWh figure of your choice. Enter the kWh amount (from a billing statement or other number of your choosing) into the box on the “If You Have Energy Data” box and choose kilowatt hours of electricity.
- Hit calculate
