The NARUC Task Force on Natural Gas Resource Planning developed resources throughout the 2023-2025 initiative to facilitate Task Force members’ deeper learning about timely natural gas planning topics. These materials may be useful to all NARUC members to support their own efforts.
Following a series of scoping meetings and learning sessions, Gas Task Force members divided themselves into four cohorts based on the challenges facing their states. The cohorts recognize the key role of commissions in implementing state policies through regulatory decisions and are not advocating for the adoption of these or any other specific state goals or policies. The member cohorts focused on:
- Maintaining affordability of natural gas bills in the face of rising costs
- Achieving clean energy goals for gas distribution established by state legislatures
- Supporting economic development through expanded natural gas distribution infrastructure
- Improving reliability of the natural gas pipeline system to meet customer needs
Additionally, members requested a summary of modeling and analytical tools that could support the implementation of new planning processes.
Materials below are organized by topics of interest identified by Gas Task Force members. Materials include presentations and recordings from monthly topical expert learning sessions between January and September 2024 and additional resources relevant to the topics discussed. The links included below are provided to share resources, inclusion is not an endorsement of the content or organization by NARUC or Gas Task Force members.
Resource Library
As the operating and planning environment for the natural gas system becomes more complex, the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) can serve as a tool that can help utilities conduct effective and holistic long-term planning, while providing regulators with critical data and information necessary for oversight.
There are a number of important questions regarding investments in natural gas infrastructure due to its significant size and long life and the imperative to repair and replace aging natural gas distribution assets to improve public safety and reduce emissions.
- Presentations and Recording from March 2024 expert learning session with • Nickolas Hellen, Chief Engineer, Consolidated Edison Company of New York • Zach Kravitz, VP of Rates & Regulatory, NW Natural • Paul Metro, Director Infrastructure Academy, Energy Innovation Center Institute
- Related Resource: Rhode Island Energy, Gas Operations 101 presentation and recording from January 2024 stakeholder meeting in Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission Docket No. 22-01-NG Investigation Into the Future of the Regulated Gas Distribution Business in Rhode Island in Light of the Act on Climate
The fundamentals of distribution system plans and planning approaches (e.g., when to start, level of granularity, technical tools and methods) and understanding the utility distribution system planning engineer perspective and the regulatory process are important areas for state regulators to understand.
- Presentations and Recording from April 2024 expert learning session with Larry Dykes, Director, Gas Supply, ONE Gas • Frank Graves, Principal, The Brattle Group • John Protano, Manager, Origination and Price Volatility Management, National Grid
- Related Resource: March 2024 Presentation to NARUC Gas Committee on hedging strategies from Sarah Mead, Direct of Gas Supply at WEC Energy Group
- Related Resource: FERC Energy Primer: A Handbook of Energy Market Basics, December 2023
Whether the gas system will operate business-as-usual or will have to incorporate new technologies, a host of solutions are available as options that can complement the existing gas network.
- Presentations and Recording from April 2024 expert learning session with Ashley Duckman Managing Director, Policy & Strategy, American Gas Association • Jerry Joseph, Executive Director, Customer Experience, Energir • Yuri Freedman, Senior Director of Business Development, Southern California Gas Company
- Related Resource: National Petroleum Council’s “Charting the Course: Reducing GHG Emissions from the U.S. Natural Gas Supply Chain” and “Harnessing Hydrogen: A Key Element of the U.S. Energy Future,” April 2024
- Related Resource: NARUC, “Certified Natural Gas: Primer, Regulatory Landscape, and Contributions Toward a Low-Carbon Future,” February 2024
- Related Resource: AGA, “Net-Zero Emissions Opportunities for Gas Utilities,” February 2022
- Related Resource: ORNL, “Grid Cost and Total Emissions Reductions Through Mass Deployment of Geothermal Heat Pumps for Building Heating and Cooling Electrification in the United States,” November 2023
- Related Resource: Michigan Public Service Commission docket including CNG for DTE Gas, opened May 2021
- Related Resource: Michigan Public Service Commission docket including RNG for Consumers Energy, opened April 2023
- Presentations and Recording from May 2024 expert learning session with Mike Bloomberg, Managing Partner, Groundwork Data • Mike Artuso, Director of Regulatory Strategy, Philadelphia Gas Works • Steve Berman, Regional Vice President of Regulatory & Pricing, Xcel Energy
- Related Resource: Illinois Commerce Commission Future of Gas Proceeding, opened March 2024
- Related Resource: The Future of Gas in Illinois, study by Groundwork Data for the Building Decarbonization Coalition, May 2024
- Related Resource: Thermal Transition Strategy Study Non-Pipeline Gas Alternatives to Gas Pipeline Replacement, study by Groundwork Data for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, May 2024
- Related Resource: New Construction and the Future of Gas in Massachusetts, study by Groundwork Data for ZeroCarbonMA, February 2024
The electric and gas industries are increasingly interconnected. Distribution-level coordination (e.g., strategies for enhanced coordination across gas and electric utilities, information sharing, and joint planning) can build a more resilient and reliable energy future in support of consumers.
- Presentations and Recording from June 2024 expert learning session with Chris DiGiovanni, Gas Strategy Program Manager, Pacific Gas & Electric Company • Gerhard Walker, Manager, Advanced Forecasting and Modelling, Eversource Energy
Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) is an emerging growing source of supply for natural gas utilities produced from the decomposition of organic materials. Once produced, RNG is chemically equivalent to natural gas and can be injected directly into natural gas pipeline systems to diversify supply sources.
- Presentations and Recording from August 2024 expert learning session with Heather Dziedzic, Vice President of Policy, American Biogas Council • Tommy Oliver, SVP, Regulatory & External Affairs, Roanoke Gas Company • Carl Garofalo, Director, Sustainability and Renewable Gas Solutions, Southern Company Gas • Bob Wilson, Vice President Special Projects, Northeast Gas Association
- Related Resource: Argonne National Lab Renewable Natural Gas Database, last updated August 2024
Non-Pipeline Alternatives (NPAs) refer to solutions designed to defer, reduce, or eliminate the need for constructing or upgrading traditional natural gas distribution infrastructure. When properly deployed, NPAs can serve as a cost and risk mitigation tool, helping to reduce gas system costs, customer costs, and emissions.
- Presentations and Recording from September 2024 expert learning session with Natalie Mims Frick, Deputy of the Energy Markets and Policy Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab • Courtney Eichhorst, Director, Regulatory Strategy, National Grid • Josh Figueroa, Senior Associate, The Brattle Group