The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) request to track costs for advancing the first phase of Angeles Link, a proposed green hydrogen pipeline system that could deliver clean, reliable, renewable energy to the Los Angeles region, according to a press release.
The CPUC’s approval of SoCalGas’ Angeles Link memorandum account application allows the company to track costs of performing Phase One feasibility studies for the project. Phase One activities include preliminary engineering, design, along with studies of supply, demand, possible end users, pipeline configuration and storage solutions, environmental considerations, workforce planning and training, robust stakeholder outreach, and an analysis of project alternatives.
As envisioned, Angeles Link could be the nation’s largest green hydrogen pipeline system and support significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions from electric generation, industrial processes, heavy-duty trucks, and other hard-to-electrify sectors of the Southern California economy.
In a final decision, the CPUC declared, “the public interest is served if SoCalGas begins conducting a feasibility study of the Project immediately.” The agency also asked SoCalGas to join members of the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) in support of California’s application for a share of $8 billion in available federal funds to support regional hydrogen hubs.
“California has some of the boldest climate and clean air goals in the nation. The proposed Angeles Link aligns SoCalGas’ scale, 150 years of expertise in service, and our highly skilled workforce with the clean energy and environmental policies that will shape this century,” said SoCalGas Chief Executive Officer, Scott Drury. “As the CPUC’s decision highlights, Angeles Link has the potential to support decarbonization for hard-to-electrify sectors of our economy, improve our air quality, bring new economic opportunities as well as sustain and grow skilled jobs to our region.”
Proposed in February of this year, Angeles Link would serve hard-to-electrify industries like dispatchable electric generation, heavy duty trucking and industrial processes. As contemplated, Angeles Link would deliver green hydrogen in an amount equivalent to almost 25% of the natural gas SoCalGas delivers today. In serving those industries, Angeles Link’s green hydrogen could:
- Displace up to 3 million gallons of diesel fuel per day, or 1 billion gallons annually, and enable conversion of up to four natural gas power plants to run on clean renewable hydrogen.
- Eliminate nitrogen oxide (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) equal to removing 3.1 million cars off the road annually.
- Generate billions of dollars in new clean energy investments in the LA Basin and create thousands of new union jobs.
Over time and combined with other future clean energy projects, Angeles Link could also help reduce natural gas demand served by the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, facilitating its ultimate retirement, while continuing reliable and affordable energy service to the region.
