The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is calling for biennial assessments of appropriate gas levels at the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Natural Storage Facility in Porter Ranch, and sets a usage-demand level that could trigger the site’s closure.
Many residents in the area have been clamoring for the closure of the Southern California Gas Co. facility, the site of the largest gas leak in U.S. history. The proposal released by the CPUC on Nov. 13 acknowledges the “downward trajectory” of demand for natural gas in the state, and for the first time it sets a demand level which, when reached, would trigger a proceeding to consider the possible permanent closure of the facility. But the target level of 4,121 million metric cubic feet per day (MMcdf) may not be reached until 2030.
According to the CPUC, the 2024 California Gas Report forecasts peak demand this year at 4,618 MMcfd (million standard cubic feet per day), and it is projected to fall to 4,197 MMcfd in 2030. “When the peak demand forecast for two years out decreases to 4,121 MMcfd and the biennial assessment shows that Aliso Canyon could be closed without jeopardizing reliability or just and reasonable rates, a proceeding will be opened to review the conclusions of the assessment and address any relevant issues related to permanent closure and decommissioning,” according to the CPUC.
Under the proposal, the CPUC will issue biennial assessments beginning in June 2025 with a recommendation for the appropriate storage level at Aliso Canyon, based on trends in demand and reliability. If the assessment recommends a reduction in capacity, SoCalGas would be “required to file an application for the CPUC to review this recommendation in a formal proceeding.”
The proposal notes that based on current demand, Aliso Canyon “is currently needed for natural gas and electric reliability and cost containment.”
The CPUC is expected to consider the proposal at its Dec. 19 meeting. The Aliso Canyon leak began Oct. 23, 2015, and wasn’t capped until mid-February 2016. Nearly 100,000 tons of methane and other substances were released into the atmosphere over 118 days.
Former governor Brown and current governor Newsom have requested the closure by 2027 of Aliso Canyon. The CPUC staff proposal, issued in 2022, presented paths for reducing gas demand to justify the closure of the hazardous gas storage facility. This current development goes against the commitment to shut down a site that is vulnerable to earthquakes and wildfires, as well as has posed a health risk to one million residents in the San Fernando Valley.
The commissioners are refusing to consider these risks. Just this year, the UCLA team that is study the short- and long-term effects of the 2015 blowout, had announced that it’s found that of women pregnant at the time of the blowout, a statistically significant number gave birth to FULL TERM babies weighing under 5.5 pounds. The study is still ongoing, so there could be more disturbing findings to come.
Every day the storage site remains open is another day that toxic emissions will endanger the lives of those who live within ten miles. Every day that a major earthquake or fire could cause failures of those wells.