The presence of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) was found to increase the minimum methane concentration for net growth (S min ) of a methanotrophic mixed culture expressing particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO). Without CAHs, S min was 5 µg/L methane. S min , however, increased to 20-25 µg/L in the presence of 0.05 mg/L 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), 2 mg/L trans-1,2dichloroethylene (t-DCE), or 4 mg/L trichloroethylene (TCE). A lower maximum methane oxidation rate was required to model growth rates at these low methane concentrations, a result that was attributed to reducing energy limitation. A derived equation for possible factors by which CAHs increased S min included reducing energy limitation, competitive inhibition, and transformation product toxicity. However, a simplified model that incorporated these effects into a single parameter was adequate to model the overall effect on growth rate and S min .