Zonal Decarbonization: gas-to-electricity conversion for entire neighbourhoods where the cost of electrifying is significantly lower than the cost of upgrading or replacing the old gas pipes.
Gas-to-Electricity Conversions in U.S. Hold Lessons for Canada
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“… a bill that is now before the California state legislature. It would pave the way for the state’s gas utilities to set up 30 ‘zonal decarbonization’ projects—entire neighbourhoods where the cost of electrifying customers would be significantly lower than the cost of upgrading or replacing the old gas pipes, …
With the cost of gas pipeline replacements running more than US$3 million per mile, similar concepts are being explored in states including Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington …
The common goal is twofold: to provide gas utilities with a way to invest in assets that don’t conflict with state mandates to dramatically reduce the use of fossil gas in buildings, and to avoid burdening gas customers who can’t afford to go electric with rising bills to cover the sunk costs of an increasingly underutilized pipeline network.
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In California, some gas utilities are recognizing that the risk of stranded assets could fall on their customers and looking at electrification as an alternative. Particularly when you have opportunities like long lines of pipe that need replacing with few customers, that’s a sweet spot to support electrification of those customers …
It saves the whole rate base, because otherwise they’d be replacing that long line of pipe, all customers would be paying for it, and who knows if they’ll stay on the system for the 40, 50, 60 years it takes to pay for the infrastructure?”
now this a promising idea. hope it they fund it well for the future..
I wonder if they could re-use the old gas pipes as conduit for fiber optic internet cables.