{"id":25117,"date":"2026-08-05T13:08:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T17:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=25117"},"modified":"2026-08-05T14:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T18:06:23","slug":"smarter-investments-can-build-a-safer-more-equitable-chicago-gas-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2026\/08\/05\/smarter-investments-can-build-a-safer-more-equitable-chicago-gas-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Smarter investments can build a safer, more equitable\u00a0Chicago\u00a0gas\u00a0system\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Every&nbsp;dollar&nbsp;families spend&nbsp;on their energy bills should make the energy system safer, more&nbsp;reliable&nbsp;and more efficient. As the Illinois Commerce Commission&nbsp;considers&nbsp;Peoples Gas&#8217;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/peoples-gas-cuts-58-million-from-rate-request\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">latest $144 million rate request<\/a>, it has an opportunity to ensure customers receive greater value from the investments they are being asked to fund.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/media\/new-analysis-finds-disparities-aging-gas-infrastructure-across-chicago-neighborhoods\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first statistical analysis<\/a>&nbsp;of Peoples Gas&#8217; leak records, pipeline&nbsp;maps&nbsp;and neighborhood demographic data,&nbsp;commissioned by Environmental Defense<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>Fund&nbsp;and&nbsp;conducted by&nbsp;methane scientist&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sustainability.colostate.edu\/people\/joe-von-fischer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dr. Joe von Fischer<\/a>, reveals an important challenge.&nbsp;Chicago neighborhoods with higher percentages of people of color have approximately&nbsp;30% more leak-prone pipe per person, 40% more gas leaks per capita, 43% more leaks per mile of gas main and&nbsp;nearly 80% more&nbsp;leaks per mile of leak-prone pipe&nbsp;than neighborhoods with lower percentages of people of color.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The analysis also found these neighborhoods are more likely to rely on residents reporting the smell of gas, rather than proactive utility surveys, to&nbsp;identify&nbsp;leaks.&nbsp;Together, these&nbsp;findings raise an important question: Are customer dollars being invested where they can make the biggest difference? The good news is that they can be.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peoples Gas already collects detailed information about the condition of its gas system and has invested in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplesgas.com\/blog\/2022\/Spotlight-on-MobileGuard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Advanced Methane Leak Detection<\/a>&nbsp;technology, which can&nbsp;identify&nbsp;leaks more accurately and estimate how much methane each leak releases. By making better use of the&nbsp;data&nbsp;and reporting it publicly, the utility can reduce pollution, improve safety, make smarter infrastructure investments,&nbsp;deliver greater value for&nbsp;customers&nbsp;and&nbsp;increase&nbsp;transparency and&nbsp;accountability.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Customers deserve confidence that every dollar they invest is improving safety, reducing methane&nbsp;emissions&nbsp;and reaching the communities where it can make the greatest difference.&nbsp;On behalf of EDF,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/communityvoicesinenergy.org\/testimonies\/joe-von-fischer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dr. von Fischer\u2019s testimony<\/a>&nbsp;before the Illinois Commerce Commission outlines practical steps to help achieve that goal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Better data should drive smarter investments<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Advanced Methane Leak Detection is&nbsp;an important step, but&nbsp;once&nbsp;it has&nbsp;the&nbsp;data,&nbsp;Peoples Gas should use&nbsp;it&nbsp;to prioritize repairs and pipeline replacement where they will have the greatest impact.&nbsp;The largest leaks often account for a disproportionate share of methane emissions, meaning that fixing them first can reduce pollution more quickly while making the best use of customer dollars.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not every segment of leak-prone pipe&nbsp;requires&nbsp;the same solution. In some cases, targeted repair can extend a pipe&#8217;s useful life at&nbsp;lower&nbsp;cost. In others, replacement is the&nbsp;best&nbsp;option. And in some areas, retirement&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;taking pipe out of service entirely&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;may&nbsp;deliver&nbsp;the&nbsp;greatest value, particularly where&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-02\/Non-Pipeline-Alternatives-Report_EDF_Feb2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Non-Pipeline Alternatives<\/a>&nbsp;such as electrification or energy efficiency&nbsp;can meet customer&nbsp;needs&nbsp;without&nbsp;investing&nbsp;in&nbsp;costly,&nbsp;long-lived gas infrastructure.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Methane is the primary&nbsp;component&nbsp;of natural gas and&nbsp;a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/issue\/methane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">potent&nbsp;greenhouse gas<\/a>&nbsp;responsible for about 30% of the&nbsp;global warming&nbsp;the world is experiencing today. Reducing methane emissions is one of the fastest ways to slow near-term warming while preventing customers from paying for&nbsp;natural&nbsp;gas that escapes into the atmosphere&nbsp;before&nbsp;it can be used.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Customers deserve to know&nbsp;what&#8217;s&nbsp;working<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Customers are paying for infrastructure improvements, so they should be able to see whether those investments are delivering results.&nbsp;Today,&nbsp;Peoples&nbsp;Gas&nbsp;does not&nbsp;publicly&nbsp;share&nbsp;enough&nbsp;information&nbsp;for&nbsp;customers or regulators&nbsp;to evaluate its performance.&nbsp;EDF recommends publishing&nbsp;annual information on leaks, repairs, pipeline replacement&nbsp;projects&nbsp;and overall system performance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Greater transparency&nbsp;would help regulators, consumer&nbsp;advocates&nbsp;and the public&nbsp;assess&nbsp;whether&nbsp;customer-funded&nbsp;investments are improving safety, reducing methane&nbsp;emissions&nbsp;and delivering value.&nbsp;It would also help communities understand whether&nbsp;those&nbsp;investments are reaching the neighborhoods with the greatest need.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Transparency also builds accountability. When utilities clearly explain how they prioritize projects and publicly report measurable outcomes, regulators can make more informed decisions, communities can better track&nbsp;progress&nbsp;and customers gain confidence that their money is being spent wisely.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Investments should reduce inequities, not reinforce them<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every customer helps pay to&nbsp;maintain&nbsp;and modernize the gas system. Those investments should improve safety and reliability for everyone, especially the communities facing the greatest&nbsp;risk of leaks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/icc.illinois.gov\/docket\/P2026-0065\/documents\/383071\/files\/674377.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statistical&nbsp;analysis<\/a>&nbsp;found&nbsp;significant disparities in aging gas infrastructure across Chicago&nbsp;neighborhoods. Communities with higher percentages of people of color have more&nbsp;leak-prone&nbsp;pipe, more gas leaks and are more likely to rely on residents reporting gas odors than on proactive utility leak surveys.&nbsp;While&nbsp;repairing or&nbsp;replacing older pipes will eventually reduce&nbsp;risks,&nbsp;the order in which projects are completed&nbsp;determines&nbsp;which communities benefit first.&nbsp;If communities are not prioritized effectively, disparities&nbsp;will remain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the Commission considers Peoples Gas&#8217; rate request, it should require the company to prioritize repairs and pipeline replacement using engineering data,&nbsp;informed by&nbsp;environmental justice considerations. Doing so would help ensure customer investments improve safety, reduce methane&nbsp;emissions&nbsp;and deliver benefits more equitably across Chicago.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Illinois has an opportunity to lead<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Illinois has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.illinois.gov\/content\/dam\/soi\/en\/web\/illinois\/iisnewsattachments\/23893-climate-and-equitable-jobs-act.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">long been a leader<\/a>&nbsp;in modernizing energy policy.&nbsp;As the Illinois Commerce Commission considers Peoples Gas&#8217; rate request, it has an opportunity to ensure customers receive the greatest possible value from every dollar they invest.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EDF&#8217;s recommendations offer a practical path forward. By making better use of data, improving transparency and prioritizing investments where they will have the greatest impact, Peoples Gas can reduce methane emissions, strengthen&nbsp;safety&nbsp;and address longstanding inequities in its system.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Customers should not have to choose between affordability,&nbsp;safety&nbsp;and climate progress. By making better use of data, increasing&nbsp;transparency&nbsp;and directing investments where they will have the greatest impact, Illinois can deliver all three.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every&nbsp;dollar&nbsp;families spend&nbsp;on their energy bills should make the energy system safer, more&nbsp;reliable&nbsp;and more efficient. As the Illinois Commerce Commission&nbsp;considers&nbsp;Peoples Gas&#8217;&nbsp;latest $144 million rate request, it has an opportunity to ensure customers receive greater value from the investments they are being asked to fund.&nbsp; The&nbsp;first statistical analysis&nbsp;of Peoples Gas&#8217; leak records, pipeline&nbsp;maps&nbsp;and neighborhood demographic data,&nbsp;commissioned by &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153242,"featured_media":25120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[114253,114254],"class_list":["post-25117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Smarter investments can build a safer, more equitable\u00a0Chicago\u00a0gas\u00a0system\u00a0 - 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