Dominion Resources says company’s carbon intensity rate has dropped by 28 percent since 2008

Dominion Resources said Thursday that the company's carbon intensity rate — carbon emissions per unit of electric output from its generating fleet — declined by 28 percent from 2008 to 2014. Over the same period, the company said the total equivalent carbon dioxide emissions, which include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen oxides, have dropped by about 37 percent.

The information comes from Dominion’s annual ‘Citizenship & Sustainability Report” (CSR), which was released Thursday. It highlights Dominion's 2014 social, economic and environmental performance and progress and available online at www.dominioncsr.com.

Other performance highlights included in the report include:

Dominion and its philanthropic arm, the Dominion Foundation, awarded more than $18 million in charitable grants in 2014 to about 1,300 nonprofit organizations in the states served by the company. Dominion employees donated more than 100,000 hours of volunteer service to their communities;

More than 200 megawatts of solar power — the company's fastest-growing renewable energy source —  were placed into service in 2014 in California and Tennessee, with an additional 200 megawatts of solar capacity expected to come online  this year;

111 military veterans were hired through the “Troops to Energy Jobs” program to help vets transition to civilian careers and to address the company's need for skilled workers; and

Dominion was named “Utility of the Year” by Electric Light & Power, a trade publication, for the company's safety performance, corporate reputation, infrastructure investments and environmental and sustainability initiatives.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of about 24,600 megawatts of generation, 12,200 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline and 6,455 miles of electric transmission lines. The company also operates one of the nation's largest natural-gas storage systems with 928 billion cubic feet of storage capacity, serving serves utility and retail energy customers in 13 states.