Columbia Gas of Virginia teams with The Nature Conservancy to promote electronic billing, save trees
Contact: Bob Innes
(804) 768-6410
(804) 512-1425 - cellular
rinnes@nisource.com
Columbia Gas of Virginia and its parent company NiSource Inc. recently launched a campaign to encourage customers to make a new year’s resolution to go green. For every customer who enrolls in the company’s Direct e-Bill paperless billing service through April 1, 2010, Columbia Gas of Virginia will contribute $10 to The Nature Conservancy to help rebuild the Atlantic Forest through their Plant a Billion Trees program.
At a dollar per tree, the contribution is equivalent to helping plant 10 trees on behalf of each customer who participates in the program. The company’s minimum contribution will be $100,000, and the maximum contribution will be $200,000. A check will be presented to the Virginia chapter of The Nature Conservancy on or before the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2010.
Columbia Gas of Virginia’s free electronic billing service is a convenient way customers can manage their account and help the environment at the same time. Instead of getting a paper bill in the mail, customers receive an e-mail notification that their Columbia Gas of Virginia bill is available to view on the company’s Web site the same day it’s rendered. The e-mail provides a link to the Web site, where customers can also pay their bill at no charge and perform other business on their account, such as signing up for the Budget Payment Plan. The e-mail notification also includes a link to electronic versions of bill inserts and other important account information.
Columbia Gas of Virginia’s partnership with The Nature Conservancy provides their customers a unique opportunity to act locally to help address the global environmental issue. According to a recent study, the average household receives approximately 19 bills and statements, and makes approximately 7 paper payments per month. Collectively, the production and transportation of those paper bills, statements and payments consume 755 million pounds of paper, 9 million trees and 512 million gallons of gasoline. Columbia Gas of Virginia customers can calculate their own financial paper footprint on the company’s Web site at www.columbiagasva.com.
The Nature Conservancy’s reforestation effort to Plant a Billion Trees will restore more than 2.5 million acres of land, and will remove 10 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. That’s like taking two million cars off the road. Only seven percent of the Atlantic Forest’s original area -- which was the size of the U.S. eastern seaboard from Maine to South Carolina – survives. The Atlantic Forest helps regulate the atmosphere and stabilize global climate, including the communities Columbia Gas of Virginia serves.
For more information about Columbia Gas of Virginia’s Direct e-Bill paperless billing service and other online self-service options, visit www.columbiagasva.com or call 1.800.543.8911. Go to www.nature.org to learn more about The Nature Conservancy’s campaign to Plant a Billion Trees.