Reliant Energy's Environmental Partners program offers a unique and proven approach to address some of our nation's most pressing environmental and ecological problems. This approach involves forging partnerships with stakeholders such as governmental agencies, environmental advocacy groups and educational institutions. For every dollar we invest, approximately three additional project dollars are provided through a partner matching funds program.
As Reliant Energy has grown into a national energy provider, the Environmental Partners program has grown as well, forging significant partnerships in key regions across the United States, including California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas.
OUR NEWEST PARTNERSHIP
Columbia Bottomlands in Brazoria County, Texas
Reliant Energy is partnering with U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to preserve and restore 1,170 acres in the Columbia Bottomlands - vital to migrating neotropical birds and native species.
Species Enhancement Reliant Energy has partnered with Channel Islands Marine Resource Institute (CIMRI) and Proteus SeaFarms in research and stock enhancement of the endangered white abalone in Southern California. Reliant also works with CIMRI in stock enhancement of the declining white sea bass population.
Animal Rescue Reliant Energy supports the Organization for Respect and Care for Animals (ORCA) in its effort to save stranded marine mammals along the Southern California coast.
Habitat Restoration We are currently partnering with the Nature Conservancy to protect and restore the Santa Clara River Watershed, home to 22-35 threatened or endangered species.
Ducks Unlimited
Reliant has partnered with Ducks Unlimited for more than 10 years on a variety of habitat restoration and water quality improvement projects across the United States, including:
the restoration of critical waterfowl habitat on the Delevan National Wildlife Refuge in the Sacramento Valley
wildlife habitat and water quality improvements in the watershed in Washington County, Pennsylvania
Susquehanna drainage of the Chesapeake Bay in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Manatee Habitat Protection A partnership has been established with the Mote Marine Laboratory, the Florida Marine Research Institute, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission, the United States Geological Survey, the Sirenia Project and the Wildlife Trust to determine alternate warm-water sites for the endangered West Indian manatee.
Manatee Biomarker Study
We also partner with the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota to determine the impact of cold stress on manatees. This will help scientists make better decisions regarding the health and well being of the Florida manatee.
Illinois
Lake Mattoon Habitat and Water Quality Restoration
Reliant Energy has partnered with the Friends of Lake Mattoon, the City of Mattoon and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to develop solutions to siltation and shoreline erosion from stormwater runoff. The goal is to make improvements to the lake and its surrounding shores while ensuring the lake’s water quality is maintained. We have also partnered with the Illinois Fish & Game Commission and the Friends of Lake Mattoon to stock large-mouth bass in the lake to improve its ecological and recreational value.
Nesting Habitat Restoration
We've partnered with the local chapter of Ducks Unlimited in south-central Illinois to improve the nesting habitat for waterfowl populations by providing nesting boxes equipped with snake barriers.
PENNSYLVANIA
Environmental Education Reliant Energy funds the Air Monitoring Program for students at Penn State University and supports summer environmental courses for junior high and high school students at Lehigh Carbon Community College.
Education and Research Reliant is a corporate partner of Penn State's Air Quality Learning and Demonstration Center, and since 2000, has provided nearly $67,500 in grants to Penn State for air quality research. We are also working with Penn State in an environmental study of the effect of troposphere ozone on forest health. We continue to fund a 30-year study performed by key professors from Penn State and Ohio State universities focusing on the health of forests and floral species that are sensitive to air pollutants.
Three Rivers Ecological Research Center
Reliant Energy has partnered with the Three Rivers Ecological Research Center to restore aquatic habitats in western Pennsylvania by improving water quality and streambank stabilization.
Acid Mine Drainage Remediation We are the first corporate partner in a mitigation project designed to improve the water quality and wetlands habitat in the Quemahoning Creek in Somerset County and in a project that seeks to return a portion of the lower Yellow Creek in Pennsylvania to a viable trout fishery.
Species Enhancement
We are partnering with the Old Town Sportsman Association of Clearfield, Pennsylvania to re-establish a sustainable brown trout population in the west branch of the Susquehanna River.
Osprey Project Reliant Energy has enhanced an osprey reintroduction program in Pennsylvania at its Portland power plant site along the Delaware River. For nearly two decades, osprey-nesting towers have attracted these large migratory birds to the area every summer.
Wetland Restoration
We have partnered with the Clarion Conservation District and the Alliance for Wetlands and Wildlife to restore a 10-acre wetland on the Beaver Creek tributary to the Clarion River.
TEXAS
Dickinson Bay Island Restoration Project Reliant Energy, along with 13 natural resources organizations, restored a seven-acre nesting island for colonial water birds and helped build a two-acre oyster reef in Dickinson Bay, Texas. Partnership volunteers planted marsh grass along the shoreline to control erosion.
Wetlands Restoration
Reliant Energy initiated a partnership with Texas Parks & Wildlife, Texas Extension Service, and local environmental organizations to restore approximately 200 acres of inter-tidal marsh along Dickinson Bayou. This effort is also designed to enhance habitat for fish and wildlife and to help improve water quality.
Prairie Restoration
Along with the South Texas Native Plant Restoration Committee and numerous ad-hoc groups, Reliant Energy has supported efforts to restore the prairie lands with native prairie tall-grass seed. More than 900 acres of native tall-grass prairie have been restored over the last 10 years at the Armand Bayou Nature Center.
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Efforts Reliant Energy is actively involved in an innovative approach to offset carbon dioxide production through reforestation projects in the southern United States. We are participating in a 540-acre reforestation project in northeast Texas in cooperation with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and the Conservation Fund.
Wetlands Plant Nursery Reliant Energy and Scenic Galveston have teamed up to establish a wetland plant nursery along the shores of Galveston Bay for estuarine plants, including 1,500 Black Mangroves for the restoration of the Bahia Grand project.
Bahia Grande Wetlands Restoration Project
Reliant is partnering with the Ocean Trust, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and a host of local partners to restore tidal flow and native vegetation to the Bahia Grande near Brownsville, Texas. Bahia Grande, now part of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, is a 6,500-acre shallow basin that had been cut off from tidal flow for more than 70 years.
Reliant Energy has partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to preserve and restore 1,170 acres in the Columbia Bottomlands forest in Brazoria County.
We are providing approximately $300,000 to assist the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in its effort to preserve and protect the Columbia Bottomlands. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is matching Reliant Energy's funding, bringing the total investment to almost $600,000.
These funds will be used to acquire additional land that will be reforested, decreasing the impact of carbon emissions on the environment. As the native hardwood trees on this land mature, they will hold more than 154,400 tons of carbon, helping to reduce greenhouse gases.
Demonstrating the company's commitment to care for the environment, in the Fall of 2000 Reliant Energy entered into an understanding with Duck's Unlimited to enhance and restore native ecosystems in mutually agreed upon project areas across the nation. The goal was to improve water quality and woodland tracts for wildlife, fisheries, and plant communities - including those that were threatened or endangered.
Duck's Unlimited is one of the preeminent conservation organizations in the world and has been conserving and managing North American waterfowl habitats since 1937. Thanks to our joint effort with this outstanding organization, habitats across America - in states such as Texas, Florida, California, and Pennsylvania - have been positively impacted.
In 2000, Reliant donated $50,000 to develop a water management system on 290 acres of deep marshland in the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge located in Chambers County, Texas. The system allowed for the proper timing of flooding and draw downs to promote the growth of vegetation for wintering and migrating waterfowl, migrating shorebirds, resident waterfowl and wading birds
In 2001, Reliant Energy contributed another $50,000 toward the enhancement and restoration of wetlands in Sacramento, California - one of the five highest habitat priorities for Duck's Unlimited. These funds were used to preserve a small wetland area where more waterfowl winter than any other place on the continent of North America.
That same year, Reliant made another significant contribution to the Freeport, Texas Education and Interpretive Center. The project entailed the restoration of a 56-acre freshwater emergent wetland through the construction and installation of levees and water control structures. Not only did this effort enhance seasonal habitats for resident and wintering waterfowl, but also for migratory shorebirds, migrant songbirds, and other wetland-dependent wildlife. It also created a viewing platform and trail for bird watching and hiking.
Reliant's commitment to the environment continued in 2002 with a total donation of $50,000 to three wetland restoration projects in Florida. The "Cockroach Bay Restoration Project" involved the creation of wetlands and the construction of a storm water treatment system on 651 acres located on an intertidal marsh habitat along Tampa Bay. The "Mottled Duck Production Project" restored 1,415 acres of habitat natural to the endangered mottled duck - a non-migratory waterfowl native to Florida - while maintaining a cattle-grazing operation in Highlands County. The "Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Project" involved the installation or replacement of 16 water control structures to preserve habitats in Brevard County.
In 2003, Reliant's conservation effort with Duck's Unlimited extended into eastern Pennsylvania and three more specific habitat restoration projects: "Blooming Grove," which converted a 50-acre stone quarry to a wetland complex providing quality habitat to shore birds, migratory waterfowl, reptiles, amphibians, wild turkeys and meadowlarks; "Matt Glennon," which restored 6 acres of wetlands by constructing earthen berms that trapped surface water from adjacent agricultural fields; and "Walter Wilson" which restored the habitat of the endangered bog turtle.
In 2004, the effort extended yet again into western Pennsylvania's Buffalo Creek Wetland Restoration Project in Washington County, where our efforts provided nesting and brood sites for resident populations of mallards and wood ducks as well as important food sources for waterfowl migrating through in the spring and fall. In addition to the waterfowl, both game and non-game species of wildlife such as whitetail deer, turkey, pheasant, bobwhite quail, amphibians, and reptiles benefited from this restoration effort.
Our 2005 environmental partnership effort with Ducks Unlimited was the Scott Kucharcik Wetlands Restoration Project, in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. This private lands partnership involved restoring wetland functions to a small wetland habitat that feeds the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. Water quality improvement on the West Branch of the Susquehanna is a regional goal that is being addressed by multiple groups and projects.
In 2006, Reliant joined the effort to restore both water quality and wildlife habitat on Ten Mile Creek with the Greg Vitale Habitat Restoration Project. Ten Mile Creek is part of the Monongahela watershed. Ducks Unlimited and Reliant are leading the way on this 98-acre site to reduce point source pollution with a variety of improved land management practices.
As Reliant Energy’s history with Duck’s Unlimited demonstrates, our commitment to the environment is not a late development that occurred with the launching of our recent values statement. On the contrary, our statement to care for the environment grew out of a deep-seated conviction to care for the land and the communities in which we work and live. This conviction, along with our conservation efforts with Duck’s Unlimited, will no doubt continue through 2007 and in years to come.
Demonstrating the company's commitment to care for the environment, in the Fall of 2000 Reliant Energy entered into an understanding with Duck's Unlimited to enhance and restore native ecosystems in mutually agreed upon project areas across the nation. The goal was to improve water quality and woodland tracts for wildlife, fisheries, and plant communities - including those that were threatened or endangered.
In 2000, Reliant donated $50,000 to develop a water management system on 290 acres of deep marshland in the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge located in Chambers County, Texas. The system allowed for the proper timing of flooding and draw downs to promote the growth of vegetation for wintering and migrating waterfowl, migrating shorebirds, resident waterfowl and wading birds
