Noting that since the energy crisis that electricity programs have sprinted ahead relative to gas, the California Public Utilities Commission Thursday increased funding by 20% this winter for natural gas energy efficiency programs by the state’s three major private-sector gas utilities as a means of helping the gas programs catch up. The added funding is projected to save 8.7 million therms, or a 40% boost in energy savings.

Some $19.7 million will be spread among Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. All three companies had applied to the CPUC to increase their funding for natural gas programs.

Dramatic wholesale natural gas price increases and volatility spurred the utilities to seek more energy-saving program funding. Particularly key, a CPUC spokesperson said, are the “concerns that current levels of production may not be adequate to meet demand in the near future.”

The CPUC said it has stepped up energy efficiency programs in recent years in response to what it called “the energy crisis and in recognition of the cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits of energy efficiency programs in California, as outlined in the state’s Energy Action Plan.”

Regulators also are developing “a comprehensive natural gas strategy” for the state that they hope “will promote system reliability and forestall shortages in future years,” the CPUC spokesperson said.

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