RICHMOND, Va., June 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion Energy
launched a multi-faceted environmental effort today to create more
natural habitats for butterflies, bees, birds and other pollinators
in Virginia and North
Carolina.
According to the Pollinator Partnership, three-fourths of the
world's flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world's food
crops depend on insect pollinators to reproduce. Over the past
decade, however, pollinator populations have plummeted. Habitat
loss is one of the most crucial problems pollinators face. Dominion
Energy is helping.
"Pollinators are so important to the production of crops,
protection of native plants, and for the sheer beauty they bring to
our world," said Pamela F. Faggert,
Dominion Energy's chief environmental officer and senior vice
president of sustainability. "Our coordinated effort is intended to
create more habitats that provide food and shelter to help reverse
the population decline."
The effort, called "Wings at Work," has several facets:
- More than 43,000 acres of habitat suitable for pollinators has
been created and maintained in electric transmission and
distribution corridors. Going forward, the company plans to further
enhance some of that land by planting pollinator-specific
plants.
- At least 60 additional acres of new habitat will be created in
open spaces at Dominion Energy's electric generation
facilities.
- Dominion Energy is working with landowners who want to help
create sanctuaries for pollinators in the right-of-way along the
Atlantic Coast Pipeline route in Virginia and North
Carolina.
- The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation offers competitive
grants for educational and environmental initiatives that
non-profits and schools can apply for to fund, among other things,
pollinator education and habitat creation. Over the past six
months, the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation has provided
almost $50,000 in grants for seven
pollinator projects.
Maintaining electric transmission rights-of-way free of large
trees is critical for safety and reliability. For years, Dominion
Energy managed those areas by essentially mowing all growth. The
result was that native plants and flowers were blocked out by more
robust tree saplings.
The company switched to a mowing program that targets only woody
growth that could cause problems with the electric transmission
lines. As a result, native plants and flowers have flourished.
With the return of the plants, pollinators have also returned.
"We are seeing flowers that have not grown in Virginia for decades returning. These areas
are sanctuaries for monarchs and other pollinators," Faggert
said.
The company also plans to develop additional parcels on power
station property to support vitally needed pollinator species. This
initiative by power stations will create about 60 acres of
habitat.
For more information and photographs, visit
www.dominionenergy.com/wingsatwork.
About Dominion Energy
Dominion Energy (NYSE: D) is one
of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with
a portfolio of approximately 26,200 megawatts of generation, 15,000
miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline,
and 6,600 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion Energy
operates one of the nation's largest natural gas storage systems
with 1 trillion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves more than
6 million utility and retail energy customers. For more information
about Dominion Energy, visit the company's website
at www.DominionEnergy.com.
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SOURCE Dominion Energy