{"id":20473,"date":"2020-08-26T13:24:39","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T17:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=20473"},"modified":"2020-08-26T13:57:54","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T17:57:54","slug":"socalgas-wants-a-lifeline-to-stay-in-business-suing-california-is-not-the-answer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2020\/08\/26\/socalgas-wants-a-lifeline-to-stay-in-business-suing-california-is-not-the-answer\/","title":{"rendered":"SoCalGas wants a lifeline to stay in business \u2014 suing California is not the answer."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this month, the largest gas utility in the country <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/environment\/story\/2020-08-04\/california-sued-by-nations-biggest-gas-utility-in-climate-change-dispute\">filed a lawsuit<\/a> against the state of California for its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Southern California Gas Company claims in its suit that the California Energy Commission has not properly considered what role natural gas can play in a clean energy future.<\/p>\n<p>It is a pretty bold move from SoCalGas \u2014 the company that supplies a fossil fuel that inherently runs counter the long-term benefit of the environment, and was responsible for the massive 2015 Aliso Canyon gas leak that for months on end sent nearly a hundred thousand tons of potent methane gas into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"First Aerial Footage of Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Leak\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/exfJ8VPQDTY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This is a spurious argument aimed at advancing the false notion that gas utilities should continue to provide customers with gas, whether they want it or not.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is this happening?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every four years, California reassess its energy strategy to \u201cmaximize the benefits obtained from natural gas as an energy resource.\u201d EDF <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2015\/06\/18\/to-meet-methane-emissions-duty-california-must-look-beyond-its-own-borders\/\">supported the bill creating this effort<\/a>, and continues to advocate for new ways for gas utilities to further reduce carbon emissions. Now that California has a new goal to <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2018\/06\/27\/100-by-2045-california-evaluates-one-of-the-nations-biggest-clean-energy-goals\/\">make its energy system<\/a> carbon neutral \u2014 the assessment of natural gas will look a lot different.<\/p>\n<span class='bctt-click-to-tweet'><span class='bctt-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/x.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fblogs.edf.org%2Fenergyexchange%2F2020%2F08%2F26%2Fsocalgas-wants-a-lifeline-to-stay-in-business-suing-california-is-not-the-answer%2F&#038;text=SoCalGas%20wants%20a%20lifeline%20to%20stay%20in%20business%20%E2%80%93%20suing%20California%20is%20not%20the%20answer.&#038;via=EDFEnergyEx&#038;related=EDFEnergyEx' target='_blank'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SoCalGas wants a lifeline to stay in business \u2013 suing California is not the answer. <\/a><\/span><a href='https:\/\/x.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fblogs.edf.org%2Fenergyexchange%2F2020%2F08%2F26%2Fsocalgas-wants-a-lifeline-to-stay-in-business-suing-california-is-not-the-answer%2F&#038;text=SoCalGas%20wants%20a%20lifeline%20to%20stay%20in%20business%20%E2%80%93%20suing%20California%20is%20not%20the%20answer.&#038;via=EDFEnergyEx&#038;related=EDFEnergyEx' target='_blank' class='bctt-ctt-btn'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n<p>From the 1990s-2000s natural gas was a cleaner alternative to the state\u2019s coal-fired power generation. Natural gas is often termed as a \u201cbridge fuel\u201d because it was meant to help ease the transition from dirty power to clean power. We are almost at the other end of that bridge. Ironically, it was events like the massive leak at the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/25\/whether-its-safe-or-not-do-we-need-aliso-canyon\/\">Aliso Canyon<\/a> underground storage facility that acted as a wake-up call to the state that natural gas-fired generation is not a viable long-term solution and motivated our accelerated pace.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/climate\/methane-studies\">multiple scientific studies<\/a> reveal the methane leak rate of natural gas production is so high, it is no longer responsible for it to be considered a primary way to generate electricity. California is phasing out natural gas power plants, as we have demonstrated that we can cost-effectively decarbonize our electric grid.<\/p>\n<p>California intends to use this clean electric grid to further decarbonize other parts of the economy, including our homes and buildings. Gas has been used for services like residential space heating, water heating and cooking. But enough technology now exists that the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2020\/04\/29\/these-two-programs-will-help-california-reach-its-carbon-neutral-goals\/\">state can offer new programs<\/a> to cost-effectively switch to electric counterparts, leaving zero fossil fuel-based energy in the home.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/Managing_the_Transition_new.pdf\">fewer customers will be connected to the gas system<\/a> \u2014 which means fewer customers will be left to pay for the same amount of infrastructure. Meanwhile, over the last decade, the state increased spending on the gas system to repair dangerous gas leaks, resulting in a higher price tag for gas customers. These rapidly increasing infrastructure costs are further motivating customers to electrify and to leave the natural gas system. The projected costs are so high that the analysis by the California Energy Commission (the same analysis subject in the lawsuit) indicates that it may be prudent to only have electricity power homes. The California Energy Commission is actively considering making the state\u2019s building code for all new buildings to be all-electric and not allow new gas hook-ups. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the other main gas provider in California, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.utilitydive.com\/news\/a-critical-milestone-pge-first-gas-electric-iou-to-publicly-support-cal\/580598\/\">preliminarily supports this concept<\/a>. PG&amp;E states that they want to \u201cavoid investments in new gas assets that might later prove underutilized\u201d \u2014 aligning their investments with the state\u2019s long term decarbonization policy vision.<\/p>\n<p>Combine this potential statewide move with the over two dozen jurisdictions in California that have already moved to ban gas in some form and that adds up to a very nervous gas company in Southern California.<\/p>\n<p>SoCalGas has taken issue with the Energy Commission\u2019s analysis \u2014 arguing their pipelines can be part of the clean energy transition, particularly if used to transport cleaner energy options like biomethane or eventually hydrogen. Last year, SoCalGas introduced an aggressive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.socalgas.com\/1443742344191\/scg-vision-paper-04032019.pdf\">voluntary target<\/a> to have 20% of its supply come from one of these cleaner fuels by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n<p>A December 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/gasfoundation.org\/2019\/12\/18\/renewable-sources-of-natural-gas\/\">analysis sponsored by the American Gas Foundation<\/a> indicates there simply is not enough high integrity, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2019\/04\/15\/not-all-biogas-is-created-equal\/\">environmentally responsible<\/a> biomethane available to meet the gas demand on this timeframe. More generally, the biogases are also more expensive and may be unaffordable if introduced into the pipeline too quickly.<\/p>\n<p>SoCalGas wants to stay in business, but these fuels need more time to develop and to decrease in price. SoCalGas is worried that if customers leave the system, they will not come back. And an all-electric code for new buildings is a key step on the pathway to decarbonizing existing buildings.<\/p>\n<p>So that brings us back to the lawsuit. SoCalGas\u2019 action is misguided. Suing a state agency to keep things as they are is not a way to create customer choice. It is inevitable that tomorrow\u2019s natural gas system will look a lot different than the system we have today. Rather than suing the state, SoCalGas should come to the table prepared to offer clean alternatives for customers. The company has already made the public commitments \u2014 now it needs to honor them. This may require changes to their business model in order to better align shareholder interests with state policy. EDF will stand ready to help them do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this month, the largest gas utility in the country filed a lawsuit against the state of California for its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Southern California Gas Company claims in its suit that the California Energy Commission has not properly considered what role natural gas can play in a clean energy future. It &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130485,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,55717,693],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-20473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california","category-methane-2","category-natural-gas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SoCalGas wants a lifeline to stay in business \u2014 suing California is not the answer. - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2020\/08\/26\/socalgas-wants-a-lifeline-to-stay-in-business-suing-california-is-not-the-answer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SoCalGas wants a lifeline to stay in business \u2014 suing California is not the answer. - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Earlier this month, the largest gas utility in the country filed a lawsuit against the state of California for its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 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