First Energy’s emissions account for a significant share of the US power sector’s carbon footprint

Written by: Meenakshi NARAYANAN

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Global power generation results in 33.1 billion tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Coal is the biggest contributor to these emissions, as global coal-fired power plants result in 10 billion tonnes of CO₂ emissions. In the US, the power sector emits 1.6 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year.

First Energy is one of the largest power distribution companies in the US, with a capacity of 3,500 MW. The company emitted 17.9 million tonnes through its operations in 2019. The company’s business travel emissions stood at 7,481 tonnes. The company does not report its Scope 3 emissions.

However, it is a power generation company, and hence, the electricity consumed by its customers produces a large amount of GHG emissions.

In 2019, the company generated 19.6 million MWh of net electricity. About 19.5 million MWh of electricity was generated using coal, while the remaining was generated using hydropower.

Coal accounted for 99.4% of the net generation. Electricity generated using coal emits 1,000 grams of carbon per kWh⁴. Thus, we can assume that the company’s electricity generated through coal results in a carbon footprint of 19.5 million tonnes.

The estimated carbon footprint of the company stood at 37.4 million tonnes in 2019. The company’s emissions are 2.3% of the US power-related emissions.

First Energy emits a huge amount of carbon emissions, which is the biggest precursor of global warming.