Praising the use of non-traditional gas sources, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Friday accepted the integrated resource plan (IRP) of MDU Resources Inc.’s Boise, ID-based Intermountain Gas Co., which finds its natural gas resources adequate to serve the southern part of the state over the next five years.

The company faces a reduced rate of growth in the midst of a continued economic downturn in the region. Intermountain Gas told the PUC that key pipeline infrastructure upgrades over the past two years have helped assure the region’s future gas needs will be taken care of (see Daily GPI, June 26).

The PUC lauded the gas-only utility for acquiring non-traditional sources of gas from fuel oil, coal, wood chips and propane as a means of reducing the use of traditional natural gas supplies by its largest industrial customers. Intermountain also has used portable liquefied natural gas (LNG) equipment in the Rexburg, ID, area to meet growing demand there.

Traditional gas sources for the utility come from Alberta and northeastern British Columbia in Canada and the Rockies production basins in Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. “Intermountain’s traditional supply forecasts predict growing supplies because of shale gas production,” a PUC spokesperson said.

State regulators acknowledged that Intermountain has been successful in shielding its more than 315,000 customers from market volatility through distribution system improvements that allow for larger-than-needed gas supplies to be purchased when prices are low and stored for use as prices rise during peak demand.

“Except for some regions, Intermountain is experiencing a reduced rate of growth due to the economic downturn,” the PUC said in approving the IRP. “Because of that, the utility expects to meet its peak-day loads over the next five years without significant capital additions.”

Since it last submitted a revised resource plan two years ago (see Daily GPI, Nov 15, 2010), Intermountain has completed various pipeline additions and compression upgrades to fill in the gaps in its distribution system. Those additions have satisfied state regulators that the utility can meet future peak-demand situations.

“There are no projected capacity deficits in its territory even though Intermountain anticipates annual load growth of 1%,” the PUC spokesperson said.

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