Thanks to the landmark legislation it helped shape, CenterPoint Energy recently proposed a five-year innovation plan that promotes technologies aimed at reducing Minnesota’s greenhouse gas emissions.
CenterPoint Energy reports that the plan, which requires approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, encompasses all market segments and benefits all its Minnesota customers.
According to Christe Singleton, CenterPoint Energy’s vice president, Minnesota Gas, the plan was submitted under the state’s Natural Gas Innovation Act, which provides a regulatory framework that enables multiple pathways for utilities to reduce emissions while continuing to provide reliable and cost-effective energy to customers.
“Through NGIA, Minnesota will serve as a proving ground to show that natural gas utilities will continue to play an essential role in a cleaner energy future,” Singleton told American Gas.
She says that CenterPoint Energy led the development of the NGIA’s language by working with a broad group of stakeholders and incorporating feedback as the bill made its way through the legislative process.
“Many of CenterPoint Energy’s commercial and industrial customers have significant decarbonization goals, and NGIA allows us to offer solutions and financial support for decarbonization projects such as renewable natural gas, hydrogen and carbon capture that haven’t been available to our customers in the past,” Singleton said. “In addition, residential and income-qualified customers will benefit from the innovation plan through a variety of residential pilots.”
According to the utility, the plan’s 18 pilot programs are projected to avoid approximately 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions while focusing on cost-effectiveness and scalability. Singleton says the intent is to deploy pilots that prove successful throughout CenterPoint Energy’s other operating regions.
One pilot project that represents a new energy delivery method for CenterPoint Energy involves developing a geothermal heating and cooling system. Such a system would use a network of wells, water, pipes and pumps to pull heat out of the ground and into buildings during the winter and pump heat out of those buildings and back into the ground during the summer.
Other pilots promote made-in-Minnesota alternative gases including RNG and green hydrogen as well as carboncapture technology.
CenterPoint Energy reports the proposed budget for all projects is approximately $106 million over five years. If cost recovery is approved by the PUC, the estimated impact would be less than $1.50 on a typical residential monthly bill.