SoCalGas Awards City of Corona more than $44,000 for Completion of Renewable Natural Gas Project at City's Water & Power Facility

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced the utility has awarded the City of Corona more than $44,000 in incentive funding following completion of a renewable energy project at one of the city's Department of Water & Power facilities. The project includes the retrofitting of an existing biogas conditioning unit at one of the city's wastewater treatment facilities. The unit, converts methane emissions from the wastewater treatment process into renewable natural gas that is used to heat the facility, helping reduce emissions. The newly-configured unit will save more than 50,000 therms each year – enough energy to fuel more than 300 homes. It will also save the City almost $30,000 annually.  

"Renewable natural gas projects like this one are essential to meeting California's environmental goals since they remove potent methane emissions linked to climate change, reduce fossil fuel use and can help municipal wastewater treatment facilities save money," said Jeff Walker, vice president of customer solutions for SoCalGas. "As part of our commitment to be the cleanest natural gas utility in North America, SoCalGas has committed to replacing 20 percent of the natural gas we deliver to our customers with renewable natural gas over the next decade. Helping cities increase energy efficiency at municipal facilities and reduce methane emissions is another vital part of our commitment."

"The city's experience with this renewable energy project is one of many reasons the city council passed a resolution in support of a policy that provides affordable, reliable and diverse energy to the residents and business owners of Corona," said Mayor Jason Scott. "Not only is the city saving money and energy at our water reclamation facility thanks to this project, but we are also reducing emissions through the use of renewable natural gas."

Renewable natural gas (RNG) is a renewable fuel produced from the emissions at wastewater treatment plants, farms, landfills, and food waste. It can rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) because it takes more climate pollution out of the air than it emits as an energy source.

SoCalGas is working to build on RNG's success in the transportation sector by making it available to fuel the homes of the company's 21 million customers across Southern California. Earlier this year, SoCalGas committed to replace 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030 – as part of a broad, inclusive and integrated plan to help achieve California's ambitious climate goals.

The City of Corona is among 100 local governments across Southern California that have passed resolutions in support of using RNG as a strategy to reduce emissions from homes, businesses, farming, landfills, transportation and government operations.

Research shows that replacing about 20 percent of California's traditional natural gas supply with RNG would lower emissions equal to retrofitting every building in the state to run on electricity and at a fraction of the cost. Using RNG in buildings can be two to three times less expensive than any all-electric strategy and does not require families or businesses to purchase new appliances or take on costly construction projects.

Today organic waste from farms, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants account for 80 percent of methane emissions in California. A 2016 law requires 40 percent of methane from the state's landfills and dairies to be captured, with provisions to deliver that energy to customers.

This will bolster the supply of RNG that is already growing rapidly as cities and towns across the country look to divert organic waste from landfills. In California, scientists at the University of California, Davis estimate that the state's existing organic waste could produce enough RNG to meet the needs of 2.3 million homes.

SoCalGas and the Corona Department of Water & Power began the biogas conditioning project based on results of a 2013 engineering audit performed by SoCalGas. The incentive funding was provided by SoCalGas' energy efficiency programs, authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission.

For more information about renewable natural gas or to read about SoCalGas vision for California's energy systems, visit www.socalgas.com/vision.

Photos of the check presentation may be found here.

About SoCalGas

Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest natural gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable natural gas service to 21.8 million customers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California, where more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas for heating, hot water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Natural gas delivered through the company's pipelines also plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians — about 45 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants.  

SoCalGas' vision is to be the cleanest natural gas utility in North America, delivering affordable and increasingly renewable energy to its customers. In support of that vision, SoCalGas is committed to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its natural gas system infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for our customers. From 2014 through 2018, the company invested nearly $6.5 billion to upgrade and modernize its natural gas system to enhance safety and reliability. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), an energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.  

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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company