FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT: Stefanie Spear, sspear@asyousow.org, 216-387-1609

Oakland, CA — Feb. 13, 2019 — Dominion announced today a target that it had already set in December 2018 to reduce its methane emissions intensity 50 percent by 2030 from a 2010 baseline. While the company has shown progress in joining voluntary initiatives like ONE Future, Dominion has yet to provide benchmark emissions data from 2010 or state whether new targets are sufficiently aligned with the vital goal of limiting global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius.

This commitment remains important, however, Dominion’s investments in controversial natural gas assets like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline remain of deep concern for investors, especially given the recent rejection of its Integrated Resource Plan by its local commission.

The physics of climate change demands that every energy company immediately begin to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions compliant with Paris Agreement targets. Xcel provides an example of a company moving in the right direction toward alignment with Paris goals by setting a target to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Los Angeles recently showed that local efforts to curb climate change can lead to the rejection of investments in natural gas.

“For years, we have worked with Dominion on the need to address methane emissions,” Lila Holzman, energy program manager of As You Sow, said. “We are pleased that Dominion is acknowledging investor concern on methane risks and is taking action; however, the company has yet to clarify how such partial targets fit into a broader plan to comprehensively address climate risk.

“Managing methane is important, but as methane regulation rollbacks threaten the role natural gas can play in a low-carbon energy economy, such actions do not replace the need to transition to cleaner sources.”

Click here to read As You Sow’s report, The End of the Line, on distribution methane emissions.

Click here to learn more about As You Sow’s work on climate change.

Click here to view As You Sow’s shareholder resolutions tracker.

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As You Sow is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies.