The Climate Registry is a non-profit organization established to measure and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions in a common, accurate and transparent manner consistent across industry sectors and borders. Thirty-nine U.S. states, five Canadian provinces, three Native American tribes, two Mexican states and the District of Columbia are the founders of the organization.

“TEP has demonstrated exemplary environmental leadership by stepping forward to support The Climate Registry in its preliminary stages. We are deeply grateful for TEP’s integral support in helping to address the challenge of climate change,” said Gina McCarthy, chair of The Climate Registry.

McCarthy credited Arizona’s three largest electric utilities – TEP, Arizona Public Service (APS) and Salt River Project (SRP) – for demonstrating their environmental stewardship by voluntarily committing to measure, independently verify and publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions on an annual basis utilizing The Climate Registry General Reporting Protocol. The protocol is based on the internationally recognized GHG measurement standards of the World Resources Institute and World Business Council on Sustainability.

“TEP has long been committed to preserving our environment through the responsible management of our power plant emissions,” said Jim Pignatelli, Chairman, President and CEO of TEP and its parent company, UniSource Energy Corporation (NYSE: UNS). “Our participation with The Climate Registry will help us track our progress as we address our greenhouse gas emissions.”

In addition to ramping up its use of renewable energy, TEP is researching the effectiveness of underground storage as a way to manage carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from traditional fossil-fueled power plants. TEP is participating in the WESTCARB Arizona Utilities CO2 Storage Pilot Project, which will inject carbon dioxide into a potential sequestration site in northern Arizona.

The success of such tests in Arizona and elsewhere could lead to large commercial underground storage projects that could reduce the impacts of CO2 emissions on climate change. With large-scale commercial sequestration, CO2 would be captured from the emissions of power plants, oil refineries and other industrial facilities and stored underground for centuries or longer.