Utilities

An Oregon county added NW Natural, a gas utility serving 2 million customers, to its climate accountability lawsuit targetting fossil fuel companies. It is the first time a gas utility has been named as a defendant, but experts say it won’t be the last.

A new California law directs utilities in the U.S. state to set up 30 pilot projects that will transition households off of the gas system. Experts say it will help speed up the transition and avoid stranded asset risk.

A new report finds that U.S. gas utilities could spend up to $1.4 trillion on gas infrastructure through 2050. It warns that regulators need to manage the transition away from gas to avoid the continued build-up of stranded asset risk.

Across the U.S., gas utilities face a rocky future as states shift towards building electrification. In response, they are promoting technologies — hydrogen blending and renewable natural gas — that critics say are expensive and unworkable.

New York gas utilities continue to spend billions of dollars on gas infrastructure. Unless the legislature and regulators step in and manage the energy transition more actively, utility bills will soar and the state will blow past climate targets, a new report warns.