Ever since a historic, methane-spewing blowout in October 2015, local lawmakers, residents and activists have been pressuring state regulators and officials, including the governor, to close the Aliso Canyon gas storage field.
The leak at the Porter Ranch facility lasted for 121 days and pumped more than 100,000 tons of methane and other chemicals into the sky. It was the largest gas leak in U.S. history, and neighbors complained of headaches, nausea and other symptoms. Meanwhile, the facility, owned by Southern California Gas Co., remains open.
Now, activists and supporters are changing tactics. Instead of focusing primarily on the facility’s closure, they also want residents to adopt green technologies, and they’re using a hefty SoCalGas settlement to help make it happen.
At a news conference Wednesday in front of the gas company’s regional headquarters in Chatsworth, state Sen. Henry Stern (D-Calabasas) and state Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth) implored community members to hasten Aliso Canyon’s closure by consuming less gas and turning to electric appliances.
The duo, along with community activists, announced that funds from the $71-million settlement between SoCalGas and its regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, would be used to further those efforts as the commission deliberates on a plan to potentially close Aliso Canyon in the distant future.
“We still believe the facility can be closed,” Stern said, “but this funding is really designed to help average homeowners, people who send their kids to school in the Valley, take the closure of Aliso Canyon into their own hands.”
The funding is expected to be broken up into four chunks: $40 million to push for replacement of home and water heaters now powered by natural gas, $15 million to make schoolyards greener; $14 million to combat extreme heat and aid community resilience programs, and $2 million for community outreach and decarbonization education.
“This is a significant step forward on delivering some level of justice and creating healthier and more sustainable communities and futures for the communities that were impacted by the Aliso Canyon disaster,” Schiavo said.
The $40 million will go toward a statewide program that promotes the use of electric residential heat pumps for space and water heating. Although every homeowner within SoCalGas is eligible for a $1,000 rebate, the program will give special priority to those in the Aliso Canyon-impacted communities of Porter Ranch, Granada Hills, Northridge, Chatsworth, North Hills, Canoga Park, Reseda, Winnetka, Lake Balboa, Van Nuys and West Hills.
“Heat pumps can create safer and healthier homes and communities and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and the market is increasingly ready to meet the rise in demand,” Robin Tung, associate director of communications for the Building Decarbonization Coalition, said at the news conference. The group is one of several working with the affected Aliso Canyon community pushing for electric over gas options and appliances.
All other monies will only be available specifically to Aliso Canyon-impacted communities.
As for green schoolyards, the $15 million will be aimed at increasing green space, reducing asphalt and blacktops for affected cities, counties, school districts, special districts and nonprofits. The $14 million in extreme heat aid will support senior community centers with adequate and efficient air conditioning.
The settlement funding these endeavors is separate from a $1.8-billion agreement settlement between Aliso Canyon neighbors and SoCalGas in 2021, or other payments and fines paid by SoCalGas and its parent, Sempra Energy.
SoCalGas spokesperson Chris Gilbride, who was at the news conference, did not offer a direct comment on the settlement.
He did note that SoCalGas “share[s] the commission’s view that Aliso Canyon is a necessary part of California’s energy infrastructure today.”
California Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo listens as California Sen. Henry Stern speaks about the $71-million settlement check presented to members of the communities affected by the Alison Canyon Well failure in front of the Southern California Gas Company in Chatsworth on Wednesday.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
The news conference comes after the CPUC released a proposal Nov. 13 that could lead to closing Aliso Canyon years from now. Local activists and politicians criticized the plan, saying it didn’t provide a fast enough or clear enough timeline to shut down the site.
The proposal calls for moving ahead with closing the site once Southern California’s demand for natural gas declines to a level at which peak demand can be served without Aliso Canyon.
According to the plan, the CPUC would initiate proceedings to review and potentially close the facility only when the peak demand forecast for a date two years in the future is below 4,121 million metric cubic feet per day.
Peak demand, currently forecast at 4,618 million metric cubic feet per day, is expected to drop to 4,197 million in 2030, according to the CPUC.
Stern estimated the earliest the facility could be closed under the proposal would be 2039.
Activists such as Matt Pakucko, president of the advocacy group Save Porter Ranch, which has fought to close the storage facility since shortly after the leak, said SoCalGas and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s framing on the issue has always been wrong.
“This isn’t an energy issue, it’s a health issue,” Pakucko said.
The closure plan will be discussed at the commission’s Dec. 19 meeting in San Francisco. The public can attend in person or virtually.