| Abstract: | Electric utility companies in the United States and Canada are participating in a unique environmental benchmarking program (EBP) designed to comparatively assess environmental performance. Each company annually provides data on emissionslwastes, compliance, and other environmental aspects to an independent consultant, Research Triangle Institute (RTI), whose staff compiles the data and computes approximately 80 discrete environmental performance metrics for each company. RTI provides a confidential report for each participant presenting the results of the assessment. In addition, RTI conducts a follow-up assessment to determine “best-practices” of each of the top performers for each metric. The EBP provides each participant with useful information on its strengths and weaknesses relative to the other companies in the program as well as ideas on how to improve its environmental performance. Annual participation in the program allows a company to measure improvement in performance on an annual basis. This article summarizes the evolution of the EBP and describes the study methods and reporting approach. Our goal in sharing this information is to demonstrate the usefulness of the program and encourage further participation by all major North American electric utilities. |
