California regulator approves accounting for hydrogen blending studies

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a decision December 15 approving the use of a memorandum account by Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) as it begins a study into blending green hydrogen into its natural gas distribution system.

The approval allows SoCalGas to move forward with Phase 1 feasibility studies for its proposed Angeles Link Project, which envisions a transmission pipeline dedicated to moving renewable hydrogen to serve hard-to-electrify uses in the Los Angeles Basin.

Clean renewable hydrogen is seen as a potential path to decarbonising hard-to-electrify industries such cement, chemicals, and shipping, as well as to potentially replace fossil gas fired generation, including power plants supplied by the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility. The feasibility studies approved as part of the Angeles Link project will contribute more broadly to the understanding of hydrogen’s role in decarbonising the state’s economy, the commission said.

In a separate decision issued December 15, the CPUC ordered California’s three natural gas utilities – SoCalGas, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southwest Gas – to develop pilot projects to evaluate the decarbonisation potential of injecting renewable hydrogen into California’s natural gas pipeline system.

“These decisions will improve California’s understanding of the role clean, renewable hydrogen can play in our long-term decarbonisation strategies,” CPUC commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen said.