Oglethorpe Power replanting trees for carbon credits

Georgia reforestation carbon credits support Okefenokee Swamp recovery as Oglethorpe and the Georgia Forestry Commission plant trees for carbon sequestration, offsetting greenhouse gases, aiding climate change mitigation, and restoring wildlife habitat across 33,000 acres.

Tucker, Georgia-based Oglethorpe Power Corp. will replant up to 500 acres of forestland in an agreement that will give the electric cooperative credits for the carbon dioxide those new trees will capture.

The replanting project will take place in a 33,000-acre state forest near the Okefenokee Swamp, a portion of southeastern Georgia that was devastated by wildfires two years ago.

Officials from Oglethorpe and the Georgia Forestry Commission, partners in the project, announced the initiative at an environmental conference in Savannah, shortly after a Georgia court ruling highlighted carbon issues in a coal-plant case.

“We believe that planting more trees to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is an important part of addressing the climate change issue while also restoring our valuable forestlands and providing important wildlife habitat,” said Michael W. Price, Oglethorpe’s chief operating officer.

Under the plan, Oglethorpe will gain title to the carbon dioxide the replanted trees remove from the air for the first 25 years, then will share those rights with the state for an additional 50 years. Carbon dioxide is among the “greenhouse gases” linked to global warming, and cross-border efforts to capture and store CO2 are expanding today.

Proposals allowing utilities to receive carbon credits for replanted trees to help offset power plant emissions are part of climate change legislation pending in Congress and broader efforts to cut emissions across the sector.

Oglethorpe is the nation’s largest power supply cooperative with about $5 billion in assets. The utility serves 38 electric membership corporations with a total of 4.1 million customers, even as federal support for clean coal projects continues nationwide.

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