Duquesne Light Company (DLC) and the Pittsburgh Pirates are teaming up to enhance PNC Park’s sustainability practices and give back to local underserved communities. The partnership encompasses two main elements — the “Duquesne Light Power Hitters” program and support for the PNC Park Urban Garden, powered by DLC.

Duquesne Light Power Hitters

As part of the Duquesne Light Power Hitters program, DLC and Pirates Charities will plant one tree in an under-resourced neighborhood for every Pirates home run this season. The program will identify under-resourced communities that experience “heat island impacts” that cause impaired water quality, increased energy consumption, and compromised health quality. DLC and the Pirates will coordinate with Tree Pittsburgh to strategically plant trees to assist those communities.

PNC Park Urban Garden

On Earth Day, April 22, DLC and the Pirates reopened the PNC Park Suite Level’s Urban Garden and were joined by Grow Pittsburgh and Tree Pittsburgh for a planting event. Volunteers from DLC and the Pirates prepared the area and planted herbs and vegetables that will be used for some menu options available at PNC Park.

The Urban Garden uses 100-percent sustainable practices and provides the ballpark with healthy food, grown on-site. Each season, the Urban Garden produces more than 300 pounds of fresh produce.

“At Duquesne Light Company, we’ve powered our communities in southwestern Pennsylvania for more than 140 years, and we’re proud to partner with the Pirates to continue making a difference by investing in responsible environmental stewardship,” said Mark Kaplan, Interim President and CEO of DLC. “Both organizations share a commitment to a greener and cleaner Pittsburgh region, and we look forward to working together to give back to the community we call home.”

“We are incredibly proud of this partnership with Duquesne Light and to be able to join with them on these very important year-round initiatives,” said Bob Nutting, Pirates Chairman. “We work year-after-year to utilize our unique public position to promote the importance of sustainable practices and improve on our efforts and make a true impact throughout PNC Park and the Pittsburgh community.”

The Pirates’ sustainability practices, including its “Let’s go Bucs, Let’s Go Green” program, divert more than 70 percent of the ballpark waste out of the waste stream each year, equivalent to more than 1,650 tons of materials. In 2020, the Pirates diversion rate of 75-percent earned the organization Major League Baseball’s Green Glove Award for the highest diversion rate in the National League Central.

To learn more about EEI’s member companies’ partnerships, visit EEI’s Delivering the Future webpage.

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