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Insights > Entergy Partners with Customers to Plant Trees, Benefit Communities
Entergy Partners with Customers to Plant Trees, Benefit Communities
01/09/2020
The benefits of planting a tree are deep like its roots and far-reaching like its branches.
That’s why, since fall 2018, Entergy Corporation has provided free trees to customers through the Arbor Day Foundation’s Energy-Saving Trees program. Since then, 2,700 trees have been delivered directly to customers’ homes with instructions for determining the best place to plant for energy-saving benefits.
The free tree program provides an interactive website where customers can virtually place their trees on their properties for guidance on where to plant to optimize benefits.
Customers who participated and responded to a follow-up survey gave the program a net promoter score of 78. Net promoter scores indicate how likely on a scale of 100 a person would be to recommend a product or service to others. When asked why they would recommend this program, answers included:
“Who doesn’t like free trees? And the fact you ship them AND you tell me where to plant them? Awesome!”
“I’m glad the company cares about customers and helping them save on energy for their home.”
“The tree that came to our house is awesome and doing great. It will offer us a great shaded area and many years of beauty.”
The program also helps customers plant trees in areas that won’t interfere with the company’s overhead lines or other equipment. This helps improve safety and service reliability for customers.
While customers benefit, so do communities and the environment. Powered by Entergy’s Environmental Initiative Fund and the company’s vegetation management organization, the tree giveaway has resulted in more than 12 million pounds of carbon avoided or sequestered, 27,000 pounds of other air pollutants absorbed, and 50 million gallons of stormwater filtered. For Entergy’s investment of approximately $100,000, the combined energy savings and community benefits exceed $1.1 million.
“As you can see, the positive impact of tree-planting is significant for our customers, communities and the environment,” said Kelli Dowell, Entergy’s director of environmental policy who manages the fund. “These benefits are a good example of how the work we do on behalf of one of our stakeholders, like customers, often has additional benefits for others. This program also demonstrates the triple bottom line of sustainability: environmental, social and financial.”
“Partnering with utilities and other companies to encourage tree-planting and care is an effective way to help protect the environment and reduce the impacts of climate change,” said Kristen Bousquet, the Arbor Day Foundation’s program manager. “Trees help enhance and sustain our urban environments by providing shade, improving the air we breathe and supporting water and soil management.”
Customers can watch for new opportunities to reserve free trees from Entergy in 2020.
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