Georgia Power has a long-standing commitment to sustainability, demonstrated by their many environmental and community efforts. There are a few outstanding programs that the 2020 E3 Awards would like to recognize
Georgia Power has a long-standing commitment to sustainability, demonstrated by their many environmental and community efforts.
There are a few outstanding programs that the 2020 E3 Awards would like to recognize:
The new Water Grants program in conjunction with the Georgia Power Foundation, Inc. seeks to fund projects that will measurably benefit Georgia’s waterways. The program sought proposals focusing on state waters currently listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act and awarded grants to eight programs across Georgia. The Water Grants program awarded $1 million in 2019 and is expected to award $1 million in 2020.
Georgia Power also engages in streambank restoration and stabilization. Georgia Power’s electric transmission right-of-way often crosses wetlands and streams, requiring work to counter erosion or movement of historical streambeds. One such stabilization project occurred at the headwaters of the Flint River, south of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Doing these stabilizations correctly has multiple long-term impacts: it’s both financially smarter and has environmental and ecological benefits downstream. The riparian restoration done in this instance created riffles and pools within the streambed – key habitats for fish and invertebrates – as well as slowed down the introduction of stormwater runoff into the stream. Effects from this project were felt from metro Atlanta all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
To learn more about Georgia Power’s sustainability projects and the Water Grant program, click here.
