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October 28, 2004
European Utilities Top Oekom Sustainability Rankings, US Utilities Crowd the Bottom
by William Baue
Corporate sustainability rating firm Oekom Research rewards climate change mitigation and enhancing
energy accessibility for the economically disadvantaged in its latest report.
SocialFunds.com --
Utilities companies significantly impact not only the environment through greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions, but also society in how they provide energy and water. They are therefore prime
candidates for being rated on corporate sustainability. European utilities are performing much
better on environmental and social sustainability than their North American counterparts, according
to the latest Corporate Responsibility Rating (CRR) report from Oekom Research, a Munich-based sustainability
rating firm. The report assesses 37 of the world's major utility companies on 200 environmental
and social factors, rating them on a scale ranging from A+ (best) to D- (worst).
 "In the present study a wide gap is
noticeable in the results of the Corporate Responsibility Rating between companies such as Scottish
and Southern Energy [ticker: SSE.L] and Severn Trent [SVT.L] with grades
of B on the one hand and Southern [SO], Pacific Gas & Electric [PCG], FPL Group [FPL], Terasen [TTER], Dominion
Resources [D],
and FirstEnergy [FE] with grades of D+ and D on the
other hand," state Evelyn Bohle, Oliver Rüdel, and Dietrich Wild, the Oekom analysts who
authored the report. "Six of the seven leading companies have their headquarters in Europe, while
five of the six stragglers are from the US."
In the utilities industry, Oekom assesses the
mix of energy sources a company relies on, rating renewable energy and natural gas higher than
nuclear energy and coal, which produce toxic waste and significant greenhouse gas emissions,
respectively. Industry leader Scottish and Southern Energy devotes almost four fifths of its
generation to natural gas (69.6 percent) and renewables (8 percent) and just over one fifth to
nuclear (12.7 percent) and hard coal (9 percent). Industry laggard FirstEnergy devotes more than
four fifths of its generation to coal (55 percent) and nuclear (28 percent) and only about one
tenth to natural gas (8 percent) and renewables such as hydro power (5 percent). Dominion
Resources, which came in next-to-last place in the overall CRR, reports no commitment to renewables
at all.
Another factor Oekom assesses is the thermal efficiency of fossil-fueled power
plants.
"Although many companies have invested in new power plants equipped with
cogeneration technologies, it has to be pointed out that the overall thermal efficiency of the
fossil-fueled power stations of all the companies is still around 40 percent," the report states.
"As modern cogeneration plants can reach a thermal efficiency of 80 percent to up to 98 percent,
this result appears to be very poor."
Scottish and Southern reports that its average group
thermal efficiency in March 2004 was 52.5 percent, rising significantly from 46.6 percent in 2000,
according to Oekom. While FirstEnergy did not disclose thermal efficiency, Dominion's thermal
efficiency was less than 40 percent in 2000, the most recent date for which data was provided.
US companies did better in their social ratings compared to their environmental ratings. Oekom
praised the work of Entergy (ETR), which ranked in the top third
of the industry in its overall CRR rating, largely on the strength of its high social rating.
"Entergy publishes a detailed annual Low-Income Customer Assistance Progress Report," the
report states. "The company has established Customer Assistance Funds, which provide financial aid
to elderly and disabled customers in paying their utility bills."
"In addition, Entergy
has launched a customer credit policy initiative designed to support customers with payment
problems," the report adds.
Interestingly, industry laggard Dominion similarly addresses
this problem through its EnergyShare program, which is funded by tax-deductible donations from
customers, stockholders, employees, and Dominion itself, which also covers administrative costs.
"EnergyShare is a fuel assistance program that helps pay home heating bills for those in
need living within the company's service area," the report states. "To qualify for EnergyShare
assistance, a person must be in danger of losing an important heat source; must have a household
income not higher than one-half of the local median income level; be unemployed; or demonstrate a
personal or family crisis."
©
SRI World Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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