Aliso

California’s continuing push to decarbonize its energy systems increasingly point to the transportation sector and natural gas as obvious “elephants in the room,” according to the state’s 2016 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) update released earlier this month by the California Energy Commission (CEC).

Part of the fallout from last year’s prolonged methane leak at the Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage facility seems to be a growing distrust of natural gas as an energy source.

Consideration of Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) request to reopen the state’s largest natural gas storage facility kicked off Thursday as the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted unanimously to open an investigation of the matter.

The first of two days of state-run public hearings Wednesday in Los Angeles on the aftermath of the Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage field methane leak was abruptly shut down after hundreds of angry residents refused to let proponents of the facility speak, drowning them out with repeated cries of “shut it down.”

On the eve of two days of public regulatory hearings Wednesday and Thursday, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) released a progress report Monday, alleging that the shuttered Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage facility is “safe and fit for service. The utility said resumption of gas injections is critical to regional energy reliability.

In keeping with a state law passed last year (SB 380), California regulators said Friday they will launch an 18- to 24-month investigation to determine whether to reduce or eliminate operations at Aliso Canyon, the state’s largest underground natural gas storage facility.

A fraction of the base supply of 15 Bcf of natural gas was withdrawn Tuesday and Wednesday from the closed Aliso Canyon underground storage facility by its owner/operator, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), the Sempra Energy utility reported on Thursday.

For a second day, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) on Wednesday again withdrew an undisclosed amount of natural gas from the shuttered Aliso Canyon storage field near Los Angeles, citing current cold weather conditions in the region. Withdrawals took place between 7-9 a.m., and more withdrawals are possible, the Sempra Energy unit said.

Buffeted by cold, heavy rains and faced with diminished storage options, the greater Los Angeles Basin could experience a possible shortfall in natural gas supplies, according to an advisory Monday from Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas).