Customers may sign up for GreenEdge online or by calling our customer care contact center. Participation in the GreenEdge program is completely voluntary. Customers elect to pay an additional $3 per program block per month to balance the carbon generated from their natural gas usage.
Green Edge
A new way to help offset your environmental impact.
For as little as $3 you can help offset a portion of the carbon emissions from your natural gas use. Your enrollment in GreenEdgeSM helps reduce methane and CO2 in the atmosphere through the purchase of carbon offsets and supporting renewable natural gas projects.
How it works
Use the GreenEdge Calculator to decide your level of participation.
Sign in to your account, and our calculator will show you how much of your actual usage each block balances. We do all the math for you so you can quickly see your cost and impact.
What kinds of projects does GreenEdge support?
Subscribing for as little as $3 a month funds carbon offset projects that help protect forests and wetlands as well as renewable natural gas projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. View our 2022 annual report.
Carbon offsets are derived from projects that sequester carbon dioxide. In 2022, North Carolina GreenEdge participants supported the Doe Mountain Recreation Area in Tennessee, preserving one of the largest remaining blocks of privately owned forest in the Southern Blue Ridge region.
Renewable natural gas can be made from a variety of sources, including farm waste, landfills and wastewater. North Carolina GreenEdge contributions from 2022 supported a methane capture project from the Maryland Bioenergy Center, an organics recycling facility capable of recycling 110,000 tons of organics annually to produce approximately 312,000 MMBtu of renewable natural gas.
Why should I choose GreenEdge?
Flexible. You decide what participation level is right for you. Change your level or cancel at any time. GreenEdge doesn’t require you to make any changes to your home or business.
Impactful. Your program fees are used to purchase renewable natural gas environmental attributes and carbon offsets from projects that reduce or prevent the release of greenhouse gases.
Inclusive. GreenEdge is open to renters, lessees, homeowners and small businesses. No matter where you reside or work, you can know you are making a lasting positive impact for the environment.
Transparent. GreenEdge is a self-funding program, and Piedmont does not profit from this program. Participants will receive an annual report with a summary of the program's impact.
Am I balancing my home or business’s exact natural gas usage?
No. The amount of emissions balanced is up to you. Each $3 block is equivalent to 12.5 therms of natural gas, or 20% to 25% of the average household’s monthly natural gas usage. Customers subscribing to four blocks per month could address approximately 100% of their monthly household natural gas usage. The participation fee is conveniently added to your bill and will be in addition to your gas bill.
Learn how food scraps, farm and forestry projects can help address carbon emissions.
Frequently Asked Questions
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A block is the combined purchase of 12.5 therms of renewable natural gas (RNG) green environmental attributes and carbon offsets, as well as program-related marketing and administration costs.
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In addition to supporting and helping build demand for renewable energy, customers will receive an annual participation report highlighting their contribution and the overall effect of the program. Customers can also claim the environmental benefits associated with their participation in GreenEdge toward their overall environmental goals.
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More than 1,500 North Carolina residential and business customers enrolled in GreenEdge in 2022, purchasing more than 5,600 blocks of environmental attributes. Those subscriptions helped fund the following projects:
Doe Mountain Recreation Area – At more than 8,500 acres, this area represents one of the largest remaining blocks of privately owned forest in the Southern Blue Ridge region. Protecting these woodlands provides significant climate benefits through carbon sequestration.
Davidson County Landfill Project – This landfill gas-to-energy project produces enough clean energy to power approximately 1,500 homes and the emissions captured by the project are equivalent to removing over 10,000 passenger vehicles from the road every year.
Maryland Bioenergy Center – This organics recycling facility is the first anaerobic digester of its scale in the state. The facility is capable of recycling 110,000 tons of organics annually to produce approximately 312,000 MMBtu of renewable natural gas for energy.
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Residential and commercial Piedmont Natural Gas gas customers on rates 101, 201, 301, 102, 202 and 302 are eligible to participate in GreenEdge. Customers will need to be in good financial standing with Piedmont, without any currently past-due bills.
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No, the amount of emissions addressed is your choice. Four blocks represents the approximate average natural gas usage for customers in North Carolina and South Carolina, which is 50 therms. Five blocks represents the approximate average natural gas usage for customers in Tennessee, which is 62.5 therms.
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Piedmont seeks to source natural gas environmental attributes within the states where the company operates with a preference for resources in the program's operating state.
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GreenEdge's positive environmental impact is achieved thorough roughly 99% carbon offsets and up to 1% renewable natural gas environmental attributes. The 1% level allows us to acquire impactful amounts of RNG environmental attributes while keeping GreenEdge affordable.
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Without the production of RNG, gas generated by your household waste would either be released into the atmosphere as methane (which is 25 times more harmful* than CO2 during combustion) or burned in biomethanization plants. Burning in biomethanization plants has the same impact, in terms of GHG, as when the gas is consumed as natural gas. To avoid those two scenarios, we give that gas a second life by recovering, cleaning and injecting it into the natural gas system to replace fossil-derived natural gas. Thus, reusing our waste to turn it into a valuable product is the perfect example of the circular economy because we use that gas as a source of energy. As a result, we can confirm that RNG is carbon neutral as it does not contribute to the increase in greenhouse gases.
*Source: https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane -
A carbon offset, commonly associated with a carbon credit, is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions created when 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions, or other greenhouse gas equivalent, is captured, avoided or destroyed to compensate for an equivalent emission made elsewhere.
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The cost of renewable natural gas is made up of two components: the gas itself and an environmental attribute. This attribute is a certificate that verifies that energy (in this case, renewable natural gas) was produced from a renewable source.
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A therm is a standard unit of measuring energy, used primarily to measure natural gas usage. One therm is equivalent to 100,000 British thermal units (Btu). A North Carolina residential natural gas customer uses, on average, 50 therms per month.
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Improved forest management (IFM) projects work by preventing or reducing timber harvesting activities that would otherwise likely occur in forests. This allows the forest to store and continue to sequester carbon beyond what it would have done if normal timber harvesting activities had been allowed to occur. This additional carbon sequestration is what generates carbon offsets for the GreenEdge program, all of which are verified through the American Carbon Registry or other tracking system. Many of the IFM projects have the added benefits of also preserving wildlife habitat and protecting water quality.
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RNG is pipeline-quality natural gas produced from existing waste streams and a variety of renewable and sustainable biomass sources. Sources may include wastewater, landfills, agricultural waste or food waste. RNG environmental attributes will be purchased under the program, and RNG will not be purchased to supply individual homes. Since RNG cannot be distinguished from natural gas once injected into the natural gas pipeline, the RNG environmental benefit in the form of a “certificate” is the proof that the natural gas originated from a renewable resource.
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Carbon offsets are created from projects that reduce or prevent the release of carbon emissions that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Renewable natural gas (RNG) transforms organic waste into renewable energy that can be delivered through existing infrastructure to fuel fleets and heat homes. Some projects that create carbon offsets also produce RNG.
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Your participation fees are used to cover the costs of carbon offsets that help protect and preserve forests, to procure RNG environmental attributes, and to help support program administration.
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No, Piedmont does not profit from the GreenEdge program.