Colorado Springs Utilities takes lead as utility partner in RSG project
Colorado Springs Utilities is helping to pioneer a responsibly sourced gas pilot project that is the first full-value-chain pilot of its kind—including the production, transportation and consumption of RSG—from wellhead to burner tip, according to the utility.
Colorado Springs Utilities is partnering on the effort with Project Canary, a Denver-based B Corporation focused on providing continuous emissions-monitoring data and technologies across the energy sector.
It’s the first utility in Colorado to partner on the project. “The state of Colorado is taking a hard look at finding ways to reduce emissions associated with natural gas consumption, especially methane,” Natalie Watts, senior public affairs specialist for Colorado Springs Utilities, told American Gas. “Efforts like those led by Project Canary help natural gas producers detect and mitigate methane leaks in the production process, thus reducing the total emissions associated with the use of that gas.”
While the RSG pilot program doesn’t directly tie into the utility’s Sustainable Energy Plan, the partnership with Project Canary will help Colorado Springs Utilities continue to bring down its overall emissions profile as the utility works to meet the carbon reduction goals adopted by its Utilities Board last June, Watts said. The project, set to begin this fall pending a final agreement on price and delivery, will last six months.
“Working with producers in Colorado who continuously monitor their production sites for fugitive emissions and reduce them allows Colorado Springs Utilities to source gas molecules for use in their system that has lower overall emissions,” Brian W. Miller, vice president, growth and policy, Project Canary, told American Gas.
The project is also in line with an ongoing effort to transition to smaller, more modular natural gas units in order to retire coal units more quickly and in a way that maintains system reliability, Watts said: “This is crucial as we bring on increasing amounts of renewable resources. As we do so, it is important to us to source natural gas with a lesser greenhouse gas road map impact.”
Colorado Springs Utilities will purchase certified RSG produced by Bayswater Exploration & Production, a Colorado-based oil and natural gas development company. The RSG will be gathered and processed by Rimrock Energy Partners, a provider of midstream services in the DJ Basin. The certified RSG will then be delivered to Colorado Interstate Gas Company, a Kinder Morgan Inc. subsidiary that will transport it to Colorado Springs Utilities.
