LYNN LA • SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
It looks like Aliso Canyon can ramp up operations after all.
On Thursday, the state’s five-member Public Utilities Commission unanimously voted to increase the capacity of the natural gas storage facility in Los Angeles County — the site of the country’s largest gas leak in 2015 — despite strong opposition from local residents and environmentalists. Owned by Southern California Gas Co., the facility can now increase its storage to near-full capacity, from 41.2 billion cubic feet to 68.6 billion cubic feet.
- Alice Reynolds, utilities commission president: “Climate change is bringing many unpredictable and extreme weather events. This decision will help us be more resilient to those impacts. It’s our job as energy regulators to allow for mitigation of price volatility and provide price protections to ratepayers…. We also need to allow people, especially low-income and vulnerable customers, to access affordable energy as we move to a new electrified economy.”
SoCal Gas has said it needs to expand the facility’s capacity to replenish its reserves and protect customers from price hikes this coming winter. But local residents and some legislators aren’t buying the argument. Despite a prior commission approval to increase inventory from 34 billion cubic feet in 2021, the average bill for SoCalGas customers was estimated to have doubled from January 2022 to January 2023.
Several residents and advocates asserted that Thursday’s vote was more about boosting SoCalGas’ profits than about lowering ratepayers’ bills.
- Mark Schlosberg, Food & Water Watch public affairs managing director: “It’s really outrageous that eight years after the Aliso Canyon gas blowout, it’s still not shut down. And it’s even more outrageous that we’re talking about consideration of an increase in use of this dangerous, polluting and poisoning facility…. Protect the community, protect people over profits.”
During the leak, Aliso Canyon released more than 100,000 tons of methane into the air over roughly four months, forcing thousands to flee their homes and students to attend different schools. The commission, appointed by the governor, is under directives to close the facility by 2027, which Newsom has supported.
Reynolds said that Thursday’s decision “does not impact” those plans, though some still view expanding operations as a step backwards. That includes two legislators who represent Porter Ranch residents, Sen. Henry Stern and Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, both Democrats.
- Schiavo, in an interview on Wednesday: “It’s something that our community’s really concerned about and it really feels like it’s going in the wrong direction…. It’s hard to have trust in a company that seemed like maybe they made a bad choice, and then everybody in the community had to pay for it.”
Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time the administration has disappointed environmentalists in the name of ensuring energy supplies. In August, the State Water Resources Control Board voted to reserve the continued use of seawater-cooled units at three natural gas plants in Southern California, despite the state mandate to reach 100% renewable and zero-carbon electricity by 2045.
Also, Newsom supported a federal commission’s March vote to extend the operations of Diablo Canyon, the state’s last nuclear power plant, at least until 2030 — even though PG&E had agreed to close down both reactors by 2025. Environmental and anti-nuclear groups opposed the extension, citing concerns over nuclear waste disposal.
In response to delaying both the Diablo Canyon and Aliso Canyon phase-outs, Newsom spokesperson Anthony York told Politico: “If that comes at the expense of the lights staying on, you know, you have to be practical.”
More on energy: Late Thursday night, Newsom and legislative leaders announced a deal on a proposal designed to produce more clean energy and make the power grid more reliable.
The agreement includes creating a central buyer for clean electricity, including from offshore wind farms, and accelerating permits for transmission lines. Newsom called the amendments to AB 1373 a follow-up to the package he hammered out with the Legislature this summer to accelerate infrastructure projects.
- Newsom, in a statement: “This legislation will help us achieve a 100% clean electric grid and phase out the very pollution that causes extreme weather in the first place. We’re taking action to build the clean energy we need, faster.”
