June 25, 2025. Two Southern Company Gas subsidiaries – Virginia Natural Gas and Chattanooga Gas – have completed new renewable natural gas purchases, adding to both utilities’ growing portfolios of clean, sustainable fuel. The lifecycle emissions avoided by these transactions combined are estimated to be 18,978 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e), which is equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 19,036 acres of U.S. forests in one year.
“We’re leveraging our advanced infrastructure to deliver cleaner fuels, which is part of our commitment to providing sustainable solutions for our customers and communities,” said Southern Company Gas Executive Vice President of External Affairs and Chief External and Public Affairs Officer Bryan Batson. “These transactions are the latest examples of how we are supporting emission reductions efforts aligned with our goal of achieving net-zero direct greenhouse gas emissions from operations by 2050.”
The purchases involve acquiring environmental attributes from RNG facilities in Texas. They follow the utilities’ first-ever RNG purchases in 2023.
This deal is made possible by the passage of supportive policies in both Virginia and Tennessee. Virginia’s Energy Innovation Act and Sustainable Gas Program allow and encourage the production and delivery of RNG, and the Tennessee Natural Gas Innovation Act permits natural gas utilities to pursue cleaner energy options and allows incremental innovative natural gas costs to be reflected in the utilities’ purchased gas adjustment. Building upon these renewable natural gas purchases, Virginia Natural Gas recently announced an initiative in collaboration with the Hampton Roads Sanitation District that seeks to bring more renewable energy to the market. When completed, the new facility will transform biogas produced from organic waste at HRSD’s Atlantic Treatment Plant into RNG.