Local Utilities Ready for Greenhouse Gas Reporting

31 different industry sectors are now required to track and, in 2011, report their greenhouse gas emissions under a mandatory reporting rule the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enacted last Fall.  Now, the agency wants additional sectors to track some of the smaller sources, and local utility E.on-US has been preparing for the requirements, according to spokesman Brian Phillips.“We don’t think that these new expanded CO2 reporting mandates will add much burden to our staff and won’t directly cost the customers through the proposed reporting requirements," says Phillips.The new requirements cover methane — a powerful global warming gas – that can escape from natural gas operations, among other sources.  The EPA estimates the reporting would cover more than 85% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.  Industrial sources only have to report those emissions for now, not control them.