Riverside, Calif. – After ten years of providing free shade trees to Riverside residents, which help reduce energy usage, beautify the city, and lower green house gases, Riverside Public Utilities’ (RPU) “Tree Power” program has surpassed the milestone of providing more than 100,000 trees to its customers.

In fact, with the closing of its annual free shade tree coupon promotion last month, the program has now provided a total of 102,768 shade trees that are estimated to save more than 16.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity and offset more than 20.2 million pounds of green house gas emissions annually.

“This is a terrific milestone to reach,” said Riverside’s Mayor Ronald O. Loveridge. “Riverside has long been known for its beautiful canopy of trees, and this program has helped get the word out to our residents and businesses on the many benefits that shade trees provide them, their community, and their environment.”

RPU’s Tree Power public benefits program encourages Riverside electric customers to plant shade trees around their properties that help to curb their energy use. Well placed trees around a structure can reduce air conditioning and cooling costs by as much as 20 percent.

Through their highly anticipated annual “free shade tree coupon” program, RPU gives out more than 12,000 trees annually. This year, 12,638 free trees were planted. For more information on RPU’s Tree Power shade tree program, visit GreenRiverside.com.