PG&E Looks To 2007 To Help Customers Fight Global warming

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KCBS)  -- PG&E wants to help customers fight global warming by reducing individual carbon footprints -- and starting in the spring, the utility will help customers become "carbon neutral."

For five dollars a month, customers will be able to sign up for PG&E's "Climate Smart" program. By doing so, they'll be able to view -- on their monthly statements -- how much carbon they put into the atmosphere.

"We will calculate exactly what [customers'] carbon footprint is, so that they know exactly how much they are emitting, in terms of carbon emissions based on their energy usage," PG&E spokesman Keely Wachs told KCBS reporter Larry Chiaroni.

The average carbon output for a residential PG&E customer is 5.3 tons per year.

Wachs said to help customers become carbon neutral, the company will use the revenue from program to fund forest conservation programs in California, to offset or neutralize customers' emissions.

He said the program will raise about $20 million in its first three years.

"What our customers have told us is that obviously, environmental issues are an important value to them," Wachs said. "We share that value. But, obviously, climate change is an issue that's scared all of us, and become a lot more prevalent of an issue in recent months."

PG&E is the first utility in the nation to launch a program like Climate Smart.

"We do think, though -- because we are the first to do this -- there's going to be best practices," Wachs said. "And we'd love to share those with other utilities; we'd love to get everyone on board because it's such a serious issues."

The program's goal is to remove two million tons of carbon dioxide from the air, in the first three years.

He said that equates to taking about 350,000 cars off the road for one year.

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