The proposal to build a 65-mile natural gas pipeline through San Bernardino County, California, to Moreno Valley could be in trouble.
Sempra Energy subsidiaries Southern California Gas and San Diego Gas & Electric sought rate increases to pay for the $621.3 million project, which they said is needed to secure a reliable source of additional natural gas.
Last Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) postponed a decision Thursday, but during a brief discussion with media, commissioners said they were inclined to deny the request.
Last month, an administrative law judge (ALJ) with the CPUC recommended the project, known as the North-South Pipeline, and rate increases be rejected, saying the utilities had failed to show the project was needed.
ALJ Karl Bemesderfer in his opinion said there are less costly alternate projects that would go through more sparsely populated areas and pose less of a safety or environmental risk, Kallanish Energy reports.
At Thursday’s meeting, most commissioners sided with the judge’s ruling.
Officials with the utilities have said the 36-inch line is needed to carry natural gas between two east-west pipelines that enter California at Needles and Blythe to ensure a reliable source of the fuel for future electricity-generating plants.
With California seeking more clean energy sources , and the mssive San Onofre nuclear power plant shuttered permanently, natural gas will be needed increasingly for power generation, utility officials said. The region, which only has one natural gas supplier, is vulnerable to shortages, they say.
In his ruling, Bemesderfer said competing proposals by Transwestern and TransCanada and one underway by El Paso Natural Gas in Arizona would increase the natural gas supply and would not be as expensive to ratepayers.
The proposed lines also would go through desert areas, meaning construction would be less disruptive to residents.
