Week 6: Discussion of PG&E

Hi guys and welcome back to my week 6 blog. This week I will focus on creating a short survey for a PG&E member entailing short multiple choice questions and perhaps a few lines of free response if they are willing to provide. The questions will cover the topics of awareness/concern, perceptions of PG&E’s efforts, PG&E’s preparedness, communication and transparency, as well as suggestions/improvements.

So what is PG&E? Pacific Gas and Electric Company or PG&E is a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation, which is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric companies in our country. The company, regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission, is responsible for providing these services to about 16 million people throughout a 70,000 square-mile area in northern and central California. Now, we are focusing on this specific company to assess what they will do in case of any threats to company infrastructure, such as their 42,141 miles of natural gas pipelines, 6,438 miles of transmission pipelines, 106,681 circuit miles of electric distribution lines, and 18,466 circuit miles of interconnected transmission lines. Many lines, factories, and powerplants may be directly impacted, so it is up to the CPUC and us to avoid any damage that we can. (1)

The worst thing that could occur is a 1.4 meter rise in sea level paired with storm surges. These would result in a huge threat to PG&E’s transmission assets in the future. A preliminary estimate to upgrade natural gas transmission may amount to $4-7 million with only 37 kilometers (23 miles) of the transmission pipeline to be encased in a concrete coating. Another 19 kilometers (12 miles) would need to be established with concrete footings with less than a kilometer of pipeline needing to be deactivated in case of rising sea levels. PG&E is conducting extensive research to understand the impacts of coastal flooding, such as sea level rise, with a budget of only $50,000. The preparations for sea level rise may include, “elevating and replacing equipment,” and completely moving and rebuilding a substation may amount to $100 million at the minimum, according to PG&E.(2)

The CPUC is taking many steps to ensure safety and reliability because the public utilities are investor owned as well. The many impacts of global warming feature dilemmas, such as “inundation of power plants and substations, increased temperatures causing additional strain on transformers, increased line loss between electric generators and load, and increased overall electric demand for air conditioning during heat waves.” The CPUC has issued an Order, (R.18-04-019), on May 7, 2018 to confront climate change by adapting methods with their own rules. Though there have been two decisions issued in R.18-04-019 about electric and gas utilities, the proceeding is still open to consider any future filings by energy utilities and climate adaptation in other industries under the CPUC.(3)

The energy sectors will also have to file some Community Engagement Plans, vulnerability assessments, and feedback surveys on the above schedules to match other CPUC processes like General Rate Cases. (2)

California has made large progress in decarbonizing our electric system by using multiple strategies, such as, “scaling renewable energy, rooftop solar installations, electric vehicle adoption, and battery energy storage to among the highest levels in the nation.” However, other sectors still need to undergo progress and integrate renewable energy with investments in, “the grid and energy storage, dramatic improvements in energy efficiency, and evolving the natural gas system,” in order to further the shift to electrifying vehicles and buildings. The plan entails the company to place the state’s electric supply resources over many loadserving entities, while meeting the greenhouse gas emission targets. They will also use high distributed energy resources (DER) to modernize our electric grid to integrate more of these resources like EV charging. Another crucial part is the decarbonization and gas system planning to, “to address system reliability standards, market structure and regulations, gas infrastructure, gas revenues and rate design, and workforce issues.”(4)

It is important to be involved, and there are ways to do so. Emails and documents are always being sent by the CPUC to parties participating in the proceedings. Adding yourself to the list would require emailing then and including the proceeding number along with names, title, organization, address, etc. Procedural information and advice to individuals and groups to those willing to participate is highly valuable and creates impact, which is what I want to achieve. Though not all of us are able to directly access or may have the time to proceed with these activities, I am conducting this brief survey to gain more insight and see where we stand as normal citizens/individuals. Thank you for tuning in for this week’s blog!

Sources:

1. Company Profile: https://www.pge.com/en/about/company-information/company-profile.html
2. PG&E Climate Strategy Report: https://www.pge.com/content/dam/pge/docs/about/pge-systems/PGE-Climate-Strategy-Report.pdf
3. CPUC Climate Adaptation: https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/climate-change#:~:text=Rising%20sea%20levels%20that%20can,air%20conditioning%20during%20heat%20waves
4. Climate risks are accelerating. Here’s what Duke, PG&E and 16 other utilities expect to pay: https://www.utilitydive.com/news/climate-risks-accelerating-heres-what-costs-duke-pge-and-16-other-utilities-expect/588860/