As pollinator habitats disappear across the country, utilities like Ameren are stepping up to create sanctuaries for bees, beetles, butterflies, bats and birds on their own property.
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“Humans and other types of wildlife rely on pollinators to support our food systems, but pollinator habitats, such as open fields, meadows and forests, are shrinking,” said Nancy Morgan, manager of permitting and natural resources at Ameren. “As managers of large parcels of land, utilities can be part of the solution for rebuilding pollinator habitats. At Ameren, we’re already working to improve our rights-of-way and land we own to support pollinators where possible. We are also funding pollinator-focused research through EPRI.”
U.S. utilities own approximately 5 million acres of right-of-way areas and buffer zones around their transmission lines. This land cannot serve any commercial or residential purpose, and large trees cannot grow here because they might interfere with transmission lines. However, these areas are uniquely positioned to host natural flowers, shrubs and other plants that support wildlife, especially pollinators.
This proposed solution to pollinator rehabilitation is covered in detail in the documentary “Power for Pollinators,” which earned a 2021 Power Delivery and Utilization (PDU) Technology Transfer Award from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The award spotlights the value of collaborative research to benefit the electricity sector and its customers.
The award-winning team behind the documentary included Ameren environmental scientists Kevin Atkins and Jennifer Porcelli, as well as representatives from the following utilities: Aliant Energy, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp., Bonneville Power Administration, Dairyland Power Cooperative, FirstEnergy Corp., Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, NiSource, New York Power Authority, PNM Resources Inc., Salt River Project, Southern Company, and Tennessee Valley Authority.
“Our goal is to reduce, minimize or avoid impacts on biodiversity as we develop infrastructure or conduct operations,” said Gwen Mizell, chief sustainability and diversity officer at Ameren. “We’re proud to be a founding member of EPRI’s Power-in-Pollinator Initiative and continue to look for additional ways to be responsible stewards of natural resources that impact our food supply.”