Southern Company Gas 2022 Sustainability Executive Summary Final 4.19.23 - Flipbook - Page 35
Advancing the Clean
Tech Ecosystem
We are supporting the innovation ecosystem to
advance clean and climate technology. In 2015, Southern
Company was a founding member of EIP, a utilitybacked venture capital fund dedicated to accelerating
the transition to a clean energy future. Through EIP,
Southern Company Gas collaborates with partners to
pilot projects with portfolio companies accelerating the
future low-carbon economy.
Nicor Gas partners with Evergreen Climate Innovations
to support minority entrepreneurs making a positive
environmental impact throughout Illinois through the
Nicor Gas Multicultural Innovator Award. Award
recipients receive a grant of $25,000, 12 months of
business mentorship from Nicor Gas and Evergreen
Climate Innovations and heightened exposure to both
investors and potential customers. In 2022, Kazadi
Enterprises was the second recipient of the award.
Kazadi’s patented technology leverages thermal energy
in the air, converting environmental heat into work,
helping customers reduce their refrigeration energy
usage by 80% while also minimizing negative
environmental attributes often associated with
traditional refrigerants.
In 2022, Nicor Energy Ventures announced a $100,000
investment in support of two Climate and Energy Tech
Accelerator startups through a program launched by
mHUB, one of the nation’s leading independent hard
tech and manufacturing innovation centers. The
accelerator program focuses on identifying early-stage
startups working on hard tech and infrastructure
solutions in renewable energy, hydrogen, carbon capture
and sequestration, energy storage, vehicle-to-grid, heat
sink technologies, distributed energy resources,
sustainable buildings and the internet of energy.
Policy Engagement
Meeting our net-zero goal requires continued active
and its corresponding end uses. In our engagements,
and constructive engagement with government
we adhere to all federal, state and local lobbying and
officials, investors and other stakeholders. Through our
political contribution laws and requirements.
engagement activities, we work collaboratively with our
governmental agencies to deploy cutting-edge technology
Southern Company’s Policy Engagement and Advocacy
to both enhance the safety of our pipelines and drive
webpage outlines the practices our family of companies
sustainability through emissions reductions. This is in line
follows when engaging with trade associations and
with our belief that sustainability is an extension of our
advocating for a net-zero future.
safety and reliability values. In 2022, this collaboration
resulted in advanced leak detection technology being
adopted in all four of our operating jurisdictions.
We also support policies to accelerate the adoption
of RNG and hydrogen. We engage with valued
stakeholders outside of traditional legal and regulatory
venues, such as through a series of collaborative
workshops with nonprofit organizations and gas utilities
hosted by RMI and National Grid. Throughout 2021 and
2022, this roundtable group, the first of its kind on a
national scale, produced a set of guiding principles and
strategies to inform the decarbonization of natural gas
2022 Sustainability Executive Summary
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