Dominion Energy Utah has a new clean energy opportunity for customers

The Voluntary Carbon Offsets program could roll out in early 2022. Photo: Doris Morgan

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah. — A new clean energy option for Dominion Energy Utah customers may be coming by early next year. Today, the company filed an application with state regulators that would allow customers to participate in a Voluntary Carbon Offsets program. If approved, customers may choose to pay a voluntary surcharge on their monthly bill to fund various carbon-reducing activities and offset carbon emissions from their use of natural gas.

Dominion Energy Utah acquired Questar Gas in 2016 and is now the natural gas utility company covering Park City and parts of Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho.

Participation in the program is voluntary, and customers may enroll or cancel at any time. To participate, customers may purchase carbon offsets in $5 blocks on their monthly bill. A typical customer using 80 dekatherms of natural gas per year can offset their entire carbon footprint by purchasing one block per month for 12 months.

Methane emissions captured from a large Utah landfill will provide the majority of the offsets. A Missouri landfill and large forest management project in Minnesota that captures and stores carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will account for the remaining offsets. The carbon offsets from these projects are independently certified through a rigorous and transparent process to ensure they meet the highest standards.

The new program proposal is one way Dominion Energy Utah is hoping to allow its customers to reduce their carbon footprint. The company’s ThermWise program helps homeowners and businesses reduce their energy use and save on their monthly bills. The voluntary GreenTherm program allows customers to support renewable natural gas projects that reduce emissions from farms, food waste, landfills, and other sources.

Additionally, the company is advancing the use of zero-carbon hydrogen and carbon-beneficial renewable natural gas to significantly reduce emissions from customers’ homes. Learn more about what the company is doing to advance renewable natural gas and hydrogen for the good of the climate and customers.

The company anticipates regulators will issue a decision on the Voluntary Carbon Offsets program by the end of the year. If approved, the program would roll out in 2022.