Baltimore Gas & Electric Company began using biodiesel blends in 2002. The company currently uses B20 in about 650 pieces of equipment and vehicles including backhoes, forklifts, bucket trucks, and service trucks.

By 2002, total use reached 620,000 gallons (about 65 percent of total diesel use).

According to Daniel Aker, an Engineer in Fleet Services at BGE, the company began using biodiesel in order to help meet EPACT Alternative Compliance requirements, which strives to reduce petroleum consumption among government entities.

"Biodiesel is also a part of our "Green Fleet" strategy which aims to reduce our fleet's greenhouse gas emissions," said Aker. "It will eventually help us toward a goal of reducing emissions by 10 percent. We plan to increase biodiesel use in the coming years."

For nearly 200 years, BGE has been meeting the energy needs of Central Maryland. BGE serves more than 1.2 million business and residential electric customers and more than 630,000 gas customers in an economically diverse, 2,300 square mile area encompassing Baltimore City and all or part of 10 Central Maryland counties.

May 2010