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RiskMetrics Group Authors Carbon Disclosure Project Electric Utilities Report 2009 Submitted by: Sarah Cohn, Corporate Communications

Conducted by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), on behalf of some 475 institutional investors with $55 trillion in assets under management, and sponsored by CalSTRS, the Electric Utilities Report 2009 analyzes 110 climate change responses submitted to the CDP from the world?s largest publicly quoted electric utilities to examine how the industry currently measures and manages greenhouse gas emissions.

Report Key Findings
* The response rate on climate change reporting from the world?s largest 249 utilities companies has improved, from 44 to 53%, since the first electric utilities report in 2006, with a marked increase in the US response rate from 48 to 67%.

* Only a small number of utilities are setting and disclosing absolute targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

* Just under half disclosed electricity generation capacity and production figures by fuel type (e.g. coal, gas) which is a critical factor for investors in making decisions.

* Australia?s AGL at 81 and Iberdrola and Endesa from Spain at 82 and 85 respectively score highest for best practice disclosure under the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (scores from 1 to 100).

?This raises the question of how much utilities are willing to pay to cut their emissions ? or pass costs onto customers ? as emissions trading schemes and/or carbon taxes come into play,? said lead author Doug Cogan, director of climate risk management for RiskMetrics Group. ?Improved disclosure on forecasted capacity and production would help investors to better assess exposure to such carbon limits at this pivotal time in national and global climate regulation.?

To access the full report, please visit here. RiskMetrics will also be hosting a webcast on Wednesday, April 29 at 11:30 a.m. EDT to cover the findings from the report. To register for the webcast, please visit here.

Full post as published by Institutional Shareholder Services -- Corporate Governance Blog on April 22, 2009 (boomark / email).