In the world of innovation, new technologies and applications can take many forms. Most commonly, they involve advancing new equipment, but they can also include borrowing a common tool or leveraging software for an entirely new purpose.
As new technologies and applications emerge almost daily, natural gas utilities are taking the opportunity to imagine how these can benefit every aspect of their business, including customer service. In other words, utilities are working to pursue their traditional goals—serving customers safely and reliably while promoting energy efficiency—using innovative techniques.
Take, for instance, gas leak inspections and repair—one of the mainstays of natural gas safety procedures. Until recently, Memphis Light, Gas and Water in Tennessee inspected 60,000 residential and 24,000 commercial buildings every year using paper, pens and spreadsheets.
Technicians would submit paper forms daily to record leaks found on meters, service lines or mains. Then, working from a spreadsheet that compiled the daily findings, clerks would create computerized work orders for each needed repair.
Each entry took between 10 and 20 minutes, and the clerks input about 4,000 orders a year. The system had built-in delays and potential for error. And during cold weather and higher gas use, recorders would find themselves with a backlog, creating additional delays in assigning repairs as well as longer workdays.
Today, a combination of technology fixes has substantially reduced delays and potential errors and has added transparency for regulators. Technicians now record leak information into hand-held electronic devices that instantly communicate with the back office. New automation also adds speed throughout the repair and reporting process. Shetland Malone, a business systems analyst for MLGW, described several measurable benefits:
The automated system means MLGW can inspect more meters every day. It also frees up personnel and allows the company to reallocate resources as needed, and it has saved the company $180,000 on operational and new software costs, according to Craig Powers, manager of gas transmission and distribution.
But most importantly, Heidi Slakens, a computer software specialist who was instrumental in integrating the new software, said, “We’re making our operations safer—for our customers and our employees”—thanks to the ability to identify, classify and respond to leaks immediately.
For Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy, which serves natural gas customers in six states, transparency was the push behind its improvement of its tried-and-true inspection process. For Mark Congdon of Hydromax USA, which helps pipeline-based utilities like Xcel improve their safety procedures, one reason to modernize Xcel’s system was to make infrastructure locations and issues more visible to everyone, from inspectors to regulators.
To accomplish this, Congdon said, Xcel realized it needed new technology. That meant smartphones, GPS receivers and GIS databases.
Paper maps don’t accurately show technicians how much of their inspection route has been completed. Online readings, however, help ensure no infrastructure is overlooked. Software, which runs on smartphones, allows the addition of other relevant information useful to technicians and supervisors. And the built-in GPS gives further assurance to managers and compliance personnel.
“This approach gives us undeniable proof that we did a complete and thorough inspection of our system, and we know exactly what the conditions were at that moment. We can also prove where and why we could not access assets to complete the inspection,” said Erin Scarcliff, Xcel program manager.
“Dashboards allow me to see quickly where our technicians are, what issues they are finding and how they are progressing through the assigned work,” she added.
These innovations save time and resources, making Xcel’s inspection procedures significantly more efficient. They also are a major step toward more accurate and responsive regulatory reporting.
But, as MLGW found, safety—of employees, customers and the system itself—is the principal benefit to Xcel’s upgrades. As Scarcliff said, “It’s a huge advantage for us.”
FortisBC, a utility delivering natural gas and power to British Columbia, is preparing to roll out cutting-edge equipment for space and water heating. To further one of its pilot projects amid COVID-19, FortisBC got even more creative.
In early 2020, FortisBC began pilot testing ThermoLift heat pumps, units that heat and cool air and heat water using natural gas. ThermoLift lab tests have shown that this equipment can lower energy costs by up to 50% and work at temperatures down to minus 25 degrees Celsius (minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit).
More than 1,000 FortisBC customers were eager to be part of the pilot. But Jim Kobialko, manager of innovative technologies and projects, concluded that only a small set of applicants would meet the testing criteria, since buildings had to have enough space to safely house the existing space- and water-heating equipment plus the new heat pump, along with meeting additional criteria.
FortisBC personnel couldn’t make in-person inspections once the pandemic hit. So, they adopted the utility version of online dating to assess the best candidates: Google Street view, photos and video calls. Using these tools, FortisBC found six homes and four small businesses to test the units.
Now, with formal testing set to begin this year, Kobialko said FortisBC hopes the trial answers three sets of questions: First, how efficient are the heat pumps? FortisBC’s goal is to find and provide incentives for products that reach efficiencies greater than 100%.
Second, do customers like them? Have their fuel bills gone down, and are the heat pumps reliable and easy to use? In short, are they appealing enough to create market demand?
And third, how easy are they to install, and will contractors want to recommend them?
FortisBC is looking to products like these to help meet its 30BY30 target: reducing customer greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2030. The heat pumps also will support the Canadian government’s aspirational goals for all space- and water-heating appliances to operate at higher than 100% efficiency before 2035.
FortisBC already has tested a natural gas absorption heat pump manufactured by Robur for larger commercial buildings such as schools or apartment complexes. The units exceeded all the company’s requirements: high efficiency, customer acceptance and ease of installation.
In 2021, FortisBC plans to start offering rebates for purchase of the Robur units. The company may do the same for the ThermoLift heat pumps if they meet the same high criteria.
With no natural gas heat pump technology available for the residential market today, Kobialko said, “We will be one of the first in the industry to drive the technology through rebates, and we hope others in the industry join us.
“The heat pumps tested through our pilot program showed initial results of reducing energy use by up to 20% to 50% while lowering emissions substantially,” he said.
It’s a challenge faced by every organization: how to engage an audience when people are already saturated with information. For utilities, the specific question is how to interest customers in managing their energy use—and get them to take the next steps.
National Grid has found an answer: animated video. Its pilot project has shown remarkable results.
National Grid contracts with Opower to provide house-by-house energy reporting. Periodically throughout the year, National Grid sends emails about a customer’s energy use; shares how that use compares to comparable homes in the neighborhood; and suggests ways to further save energy.
Knowing how many emails the average customer receives, Thomas Baron, a senior program manager at National Grid, was looking for a way to make the company’s energy efficiency message stand out: “What can we do to get customers engaged and interested—and even help them have a little fun? What can we draw on from other parts of their lives that they are familiar with?”
Baron thought of TikTok, the immensely popular social media tool that features short videos, with the words “bring joy” in its mission statement. And he considered how videos have become integrated in conventional news coverage and virtually every type of social media.
So, National Grid created a short, animated, personalized video for 33,000 natural gas customers in upstate New York (visit bit.ly/NationalGridvideoreport for a sample). Each video included the customer’s first name, energy use for a given period and suggestions for energy savings.
The response was so high, “it even surprised us,” Baron said. For example:
Baron was most interested in what happened after the videos were watched. Of those who watched, 14% clicked through to National Grid’s Energy Efficiency program page, creating five times the page’s average daily traffic. That page is the entryway to all National Grid’s energy efficiency programs, rebates and other energy-saving tips.
For Baron, getting customers to learn about their energy use is just the first step. What he’s ultimately after is behavior change: getting customers to take action to use less energy, whether it’s simply turning back their thermostats or investing in weatherization and high-efficiency equipment.
National Grid’s next step was to send similar reports to 150,000 New York customers this past winter. After a season of video reporting, the utility will be able to measure the program’s success by comparing before-and-after energy use, interest in rebates and new equipment, and customer feedback.
Depending on the results, National Grid might eventually send videos to customers in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. “National Grid has always been willing to try new things,” Baron said. “This is the latest in our efforts to get our customers excited about energy efficiency.”
The history of gas utilities is one of innovation in pursuit of increased safety, operating efficiency, reliability and energy savings. From the time the industry switched from manufactured gas to natural gas, the business has experienced a constant stream of improvements.
Whether they are replacing pipelines with modern materials; improving construction techniques; updating their websites and phone systems; or automating manual systems, natural gas utilities are constantly looking for the most efficient and effective ways to serve their customers.
Fuel Cell Power
Southern California Gas Company is on a mission to be the cleanest gas utility in North America. The utility has long supported fuel cells in various communities throughout its service area. Now, fuel cells at two of its largest Los Angeles-area facilities are propelling the company further toward its clean energy goal.
In July, SoCalGas installed two of Bloom Energy’s solid oxide fuel cells, which will “reduce greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutants and the cost of power, as well as provide reliable electricity independent of the power grid,” according to Andy Carrasco, SoCalGas’ chief environmental officer.
The fuel cells use natural gas or renewable natural gas to produce hydrogen, which is then converted to electricity through an electrochemical reaction. Carrasco said, “Fuel cells can provide resiliency now using existing natural gas infrastructure.”
Longer term, the fuel cells “present a path to carbon-neutral resilience, as they will provide reliable zero-emission electric power using clean hydrogen as a feedstock,” he said.
According to Carrasco, the fuel cells will immediately:
The fuel cells will pay for themselves in eight years through reduced power costs.