UPS has reached an agreement with Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to purchase 170 million gallon equivalents of renewable natural gas through 2026. With a range of 22.5 million to 25 million gallon equivalents per year, this deal marks the largest commitment for use of RNG to date by any U.S. company, according to a UPS news release. Eighteen UPS fueling stations across the United States will use Clean Energy’s RNG to operate the logistics company’s delivery vehicles, a potential reduction of more than 1 million metric tons of greenhouse gases over the life of the agreement, according to the news release. Twenty-eight million gallons of RNG have been used in UPS’ ground fleet since 2014.
For achieving at least 20 percent women on its corporate board before 2020, Avista Corp. has been named a 2020 Winning “W” Company by 2020 Women on Boards, a grassroots campaign started in Boston in 2010 that expanded nationally in 2011. “We are proud to be recognized as part of this initiative,” said Avista Corp. Chairman and CEO Scott Morris. “We have a strong commitment to inclusion, with women making up 40 percent of our board today and for the last five years. We are encouraged to see more companies join us in embracing gender diversity at the board level.” Nationally, as of 2018, 17.7 percent of corporate board seats are held by women, an increase from 16 percent in 2017, but half of Russell 3000 Index companies have one or no women on their boards.
Atlanta Gas Light is testing enabling light-duty vehicles with adsorbed natural gas bi-fuel technology. ANG technology, created by Adsorbed Natural Gas Products Inc., functions through activated carbon and reduces natural gas storage pressure without sacrificing the stored volume. According to ANGP, this allows for a cleaner and lower-cost fuel. “Natural gas is playing an important role in reducing emissions,” said Ian Skelton, director of natural gas vehicles at Southern Company Gas, Atlanta Gas Light’s parent company, “and adsorbed natural gas can significantly reduce the cost and complexity of fueling natural gas vehicles.”
Nicor Gas President Melvin D. Williams has been named to the 2019 EMpower 100 Ethnic Minority Executives list. Williams, who is also senior vice president of Nicor’s parent company, Southern Company Gas, is a champion for leadership development and diversity and inclusion-related initiatives, according to a Nicor news release. He is also the founding chairman of the Illinois Utilities Business Diversity Council and has been a member of the American Association of Blacks in Energy for over 25 years. “I am truly humbled by the recognition among the distinguished list of international leaders,” Williams said. “As leaders, we are afforded an incredible opportunity to serve those that follow—an enormous responsibility and one that I am immensely grateful for.”
According to a Wood Mackenzie analysis, there’s a high cost of shifting the U.S. power grid to 100 percent renewable energy over the next 10 years. That cost, estimated at $4.5 trillion, reportedly covers everything that would be needed to reliably produce and deliver that energy to customers. Meanwhile, an analysis of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission data by the nonprofit SUN DAY Campaign determined that renewable energy’s share of total available installed U.S. generating capacity stands at 21.56 percent, surpassing coal’s share by 0.01 percent. However, according to FERC’s Energy Infrastructure Update, natural gas will continue to own the largest share, and it now represents 44.44 percent of total installed capacity.
Black Hills Energy has requested approval from the Wyoming Public Service Commission to consolidate its Wyoming gas utilities into one new legal entity. The new entity, called Black Hills Wyoming Gas LLC, would bring together four gas utilities to simplify and improve service to nearly 300,000 customers, according to a Black Hills Energy news release. Those utilities are Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power Company-Gas; Black Hills Energy, a division of Cheyenne Light; Black Hills Northwest Wyoming Gas Utility Company LLC; and the Wyoming assets of Black Hills Gas Distribution LLC. The company has submitted a regulatory rate review application to the WPSC to consolidate tariffs, rates and terms of conditions of service of its existing gas territories in the state. According to the release, if the consolidation is approved, new natural gas service delivery rates would take effect in early 2020 for customers in 56 communities.
Peninsula Pipeline Company Inc., a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, has entered into an agreement with SeaCoast Gas Transmission, an affiliate of Tampa, Florida-based TECO Peoples Gas, to jointly develop the Callahan Intrastate Pipeline. The new supply line will bring additional natural gas capacity to Nassau and Duval counties. The Callahan Intrastate Pipeline project includes a 26.5-mile joint natural gas pipeline from Callahan to Yulee, Florida. Peninsula Pipeline will construct, partially own and fully maintain the pipeline. The estimated $65 million cost to complete the project will be split between Peninsula Pipeline and SeaCoast Gas Transmission.
According to grassroots organization Texans for Natural Gas, the Lone Star State now accounts for 24 percent of America’s natural gas production and is helping to lead the nation to an unprecedented level of production volume. Through analysis in its special report, Leading the Charge: How Texas is Making America More Energy Secure, the organization found that thanks to a 17.4 percent increase in the state’s natural gas production from January 2018 to January 2019, Texas currently produces 25.9 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. Also noted in the report, the state’s Permian Basin produces the second-largest amount of natural gas of any field in the United States, at 14.2 Bcf/d. As for cost savings, Texas residential consumers reportedly saved more than $7 billion over 10 years due to “homegrown, low-cost natural gas.”
Utilities wanting to earn their customers’ trust, loyalty and engagement should promote employee volunteerism, listen to community feedback and effectively communicate how they are supporting and giving back to the local community. That’s the finding of the 2019 Cogent Syndicated Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement: Residential™ report from Escalent. This year’s most trusted combination utility brands are: DTE Energy, Black Hills Energy–Midwest, Con Edison, PECO, CPS Energy, Puget Sound Energy and Avista. The top natural gas utility brands are: TECO Peoples Gas, Piedmont Natural Gas, NW Natural, CenterPoint Energy–South, Texas Gas Service, PSNC Energy, UGI Utilities, Peoples Gas, New Jersey Natural Gas, SEMCO Energy Gas Company, Washington Gas, National Fuel Gas, Citizens Energy, Peoples and Centerpoint Energy–Midwest.
According to a new International Energy Agency report, in 2018, as global energy consumption rose at its fastest pace in nearly a decade, natural gas was the fastest-growing source. Natural gas reportedly accounted for 45 percent of all energy consumption growth last year, as most regions and several industries—including shipping—are turning to the fuel that’s “cleanerburning and less expensive,” according to a story on Axios. In its report, the IEA projects a tenfold increase in liquefied natural gas in the shipping industry by 2024, supported by the International Maritime Organization’s environmental rules that begin in January 2020. The IEA reports that more demand is on the horizon, projecting a more than 10 percent increase over the next five years, especially in China.