Pioneer's Environmental Initiatives

At Pioneer we're dedicated to providing high quality service, competitive prices, and environmentally responsible power. We also feel it's important to "walk the walk" when it comes to investing in energy efficiency and taking steps to reduce our environmental impact. Here are a few things you may not know about Pioneer:

• As a participant in Buckeye Power's CFL exchange program, we've distributed over 21,000 compact fluorescent bulbs to our members. We've also recycled over 18,000 incandescent bulbs we collected, limiting our contribution to landfills. We have also recycled unsalvageable office equipment and electronics.
• We offer CFL recycling for our members to keep the mercury in these bulbs from ending up in landfills.
• Our 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid is used by the Energy Advisor, marketing department, engineering department, and employees who travel for meetings and training. Based on the calculator provided by Hybrid Cars, our purchase of a Civic Hybrid has saved 181 gallons of gasoline and 3,431 pounds of carbon dioxide compared to a conventional gas Honda Civic in the 3 years we've driven it. (Estimate based on gas price average of $2.685 and driving 15,000 miles per year).
• Since January of 2008, Pioneer's saved 70 trees by shredding and recycling office documents.
• We installed geothermal heat pumps in the Piqua office in 2007-2008. Some existing air to air heat pumps were upgraded from 10 SEER to 13 SEER. The office portion of the new Urbana building is completely geothermal and was heated and cooled during its first year of operation for approximately $1,200.
• In March of 2009 we switched our lighting from T12 to T8 lights, and ballasts were changed from 2.8 to 1.9 amps in 305 fixtures. We also installed motion sensors in all offices.
• To limit energy vampire consumption, we've installed a VendingMiser® on our vending machine, timers on coffee pots, and a timer on our water heater.

• During the last several years, Pioneer Electric Cooperative has been diligently working to remove PCB equipment from the system.  By removing this potentially contaminated equipment, we've increased public safety and the environment.
• Pioneer presently plants 50-75 large balled trees per year to replace tall/fast growing species that require repeated trims because they are positioned or will reach our lines.  This results in the reduction of cost and emissions caused by chain saws, bucket trucks, and wood chippers during each trimming cycle we conduct.  
• Pioneer practices the proper use of selective herbicides to treat target vegetation all-the-while releasing native grasses and forbs. This results in the minimal use of mechanical equipment such as mowers, chain saws and chippers, thus reducing ground impacts such as erosion, wildlife habitat destruction, and the elimination of invasive species.  Furthermore, with less trips to a job site, less fossil fuels are consumed.

This page last updated May 2010.