PHILADELPHIA, PA, April 19, 2022 — PECO, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), has formally launched ReLeaf, a program centered around the company’s increased investment in tree planting and education across the Greater Philadelphia region. ReLeaf is designed to expand the region’s urban tree canopy and, ultimately, achieve the program’s projected goal of planting one tree for every tree removed as part of electric reliability maintenance.
Anchoring ReLeaf and this increased investment in tree planting is PECO’s ongoing partner-ship with PHS. As part of an event held today at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, Romona Riscoe Benson, Director of Corporate and Community Impact at PECO presented a $200,000 donation to PHS, doubling the company’s annual investment and providing increased resources for the organization’s tree programming, including new investments in Yard Tree Giveaways and TreeVitalize Watershed Grant programs. With this additional funding, PHS will be best positioned to work towards its ultimate goal of planting more than 15,000 trees annually across southeastern Pennsylvania.
“When planted right, trees offer our customers a number of benefits, including energy and money savings, and help support our efforts to promote a cleaner, brighter future for the communities we serve,” said Riscoe Benson. “It is our partnerships with organizations like PHS that allow us to build on our goals and explore new ways to enhance our commitment to environmental stewardship and social equity.”
Along with remarks from Riscoe Benson and Matt Rader, President of PHS, the event included PECO and PHS volunteers unloading 1,550 trees to be planted in communities across Greater Philadelphia. The trees will be delivered to locations for pick up by those enrolled in the PHS Tree Tenders, a program that provides workshops in tree planting and care and works with volunteer- based community groups to plant and maintain trees. Locations include Hunting Park, Olney, Nicetown-Tioga, and Point Breeze in Philadelphia; Darby and Swarthmore in Delaware County; and Friends of the Medal of Honor Grove in Chester County. The ongoing planting of trees will continue to boost the urban tree canopy in various areas across the region.
“We are so thankful for PECO’s continued support and partnership with PHS. Trees are essential to improving air quality, reducing heat islands, and offering shade cover to communities. This additional commitment will help PHS further its reach throughout the region, planting more trees and increasing positive health outcomes,” said Matt Rader, President of PHS.
In 2021 alone, PECO’s $100,000 support of PHS resulted in approximately 8,700 new trees and 1,400 new shrubs in the region. To date, PECO has provided almost 10,000 trees to customers through the Arbor Day Foundation’s Energy-Saving Trees Program; and for every 3-point-shot converted by the Philadelphia 76ers at a home game, PECO donates one tree seedling to be planted in locations across the Greater Philadelphia region through the Threes for Trees program. What’s more, PECO has invested more than $2.3 million in Green Region Grants that promote open space and tree planting.
As planting, maintenance, and education about trees remains integral to the region’s transition to a clean energy future to combat climate change, these partnerships will continue to provide direction for, and the growth of, PECO’s ReLeaf program.
As announced last year, PECO is on a Path to Clean, playing a leading role in the Greater Philadelphia region’s transition to a clean energy future. As part of this goal, PECO and the collective Exelon utilities will reduce operations-driven emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. In addition to reducing emissions, PECO’s Path to Clean journey includes support for all things green, specifically through environmental stewardship efforts—which is the foundation of ReLeaf.
To learn more about PECO’s commitment to environmental stewardship, visit https://www.peco.com/Safety-Community/Environment/Pages/Default.aspx
