ICC Future of Gas Archives | Citizens Utility Board

Illinois Future of Gas: Perspectives Part I & II – February 26th & 27th workshops

Elizabeth — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 15:47:36 +0000

By: Scott Allen Phase 2(a) of the Future of Gas proceeding has come to an end. That’s after back-to-back workshops (Feb. 26-27) where participants shared their perspectives on how Illinois ought to pursue gas-system decarbonization. Seventeen parties volunteered to present, and the facilitator broke those into three categories: All options Energy efficiency, electrification and geothermal Alternative gases or other pathways Only one gas utility spoke–Ameren Illinois–and they were one of the three in the “All Options” category. The other presenters ranged from the environmentally-focused to those seemingly wanting to pitch their consulting services or to hawk a product. (Replays of both meetings can be found here.) Not to play favorites, but there were a couple of perspectives that stood out to me. First, the City of Chicago’s presentation struck me as an example of how local governments should be leading the way on protecting people, public health and ratepayer interests. The City’s Department of Environment doesn’t pretend that it knows what the future holds, nor does it suppose that a transition away from gas will be quick and perfectly smooth. Instead they set decarbonization goals and plan how they can reach those goals. They take into account Chicagoans’ diverse material conditions, and brainstorm ways to assist those who will need it in this transition. If I could assume the City’s perspective, or what it hopes will result from this Future of Gas proceeding, it would be that the ICC has the opportunity to enable the outcomes Chicago would like to see. Another perspective that I found encouraging came from Climate Jobs Illinois (CJI), a labor coalition attempting to unify the varied interests of its members toward embracing a massive shift in the energy and heating sectors. CJI’s pro-worker, pro-climate stance recognizes that, for pipefitters in particular, thermal energy networks (TENs)–a way to cleanly and efficiently heat and cool an entire neighborhood–are ideally suited for people in the pipes trades. While there is loud resistance to decarbonization from some union locals, CJI seems to understand that their coalition of workers–from skilled tradespeople to teachers–has the potential to be a unique and important voice in a managed clean energy transition. I found several of the other presentations questionable, either because they were so obviously sales pitches for consulting services, or shills for private interests–such commercials don’t seem appropriate for a proceeding initiated by state regulators such as the Future of Gas. Shame on them. Then there were the presentations with which I wholly disagree, such as building a market for biogas or “renewable natural gas,” but at least those presenters didn’t try to hide their motives. Others did hide behind euphemistic phrases like “consumer choice” when they plainly don’t represent consumer interests. Onward. Now that Phase 2(a) is over, the next phase, 2(b), kicks off mid-March. Phase 2(b) will be broken into two working groups that will meet separately: Pilots. Pilot group meetings will require participants to sort through the more than 100 pilot proposals submitted late last year. The group will be asked to categorize the pilots based on concepts, methods and goals, speculate as to how those pilots might be […]

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Illinois Future of Gas: Additional Decarbonization Technologies – January 27, 2025

Elizabeth — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 22:13:36 +0000

By Scott Allen This workshop was in some ways a Part II to the previous “alternative fuels” workshop in that it also focused on what I’ll call “Carbonization Pathways.” I give it that label, because, aside from the University of Illinois Chicago, none of the presenters from the last two meetings seemed to have any intent to decarbonize. Here was the lineup for the latest workshop: The Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois presented on Carbon Capture Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS); The Energy Resource Center at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) presented on Combined Heat and Power (CHP); GTI (formerly the Gas Technology Institute) presented on “additional decarbonization technologies;” i.e. gas heat pumps. You can view all the Jan. 27 presentations here, but my main concern coming out of this workshop is with the way Prairie Research Institute (PRI) talked about CCUS. So I will concentrate on that. As far as GTI and their “additional decarbonization technologies” are concerned, I don’t feel like it’s worth giving any more attention to gas-testing facilities or the wild ideas they dream up. (But, if they’re going to keep a cozy relationship with gas, I suggest they regularly test the batteries in their carbon monoxide detectors.) Carbon Capture Utilization and Sequestration has been a contentious policy issue in Illinois since the Inflation Reduction Act increased the value of the 45Q tax credit. It isn’t that CCUS projects didn’t exist in the state, or were being explored prior to that, but it’s the fact that pollution became a more valuable commodity. Suddenly, polluters from around the country were eyeballing huge swathes of central and southern Illinois as a place to dump their byproducts, and the Prairie Research Institute was leading the charge to encourage them. For more than a year at the tail end of the COVID pandemic, it was hard to miss a webinar from PRI not only extolling the benefits of carbon capture technology, but also showing illustrated maps of Illinois’ unique geology. Fortunately, Gov. Pritzker last summer signed the SAFE CCS Act, which took steps toward disincentivizing private investment in CCUS and banned the use of sequestered carbon for “enhanced oil recovery.” (Historical note: Carbon capture technology was originally conceived and funded so that the captured carbon could be used to more efficiently extract oil). The Act also banned pipelines until July of 2026 (or until new federal safety rules are established, whichever comes first), and it created some landowner protections, monitoring requirements and assurance that the State never takes ownership of sequestered carbon dioxide. However, in my mind it fell short of protecting aquifers and environmental justice communities. It also didn’t seem to have much of an effect on PRI’s efforts to make sure that Illinois’ two most prominent publicly-owned coal plants are further subsidized so that PRI can prove that carbon capture on coal plants is a worthwhile pursuit. What does any of this have to do with decarbonizing the gas distribution system? Doesn’t matter. This presentation was simply another opportunity for PRI to talk about the “carbon capture value chain,” and once again highlight the demonstration […]

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Illinois Future of Gas: Alternative Fuels Meeting – January 13, 2025

Jim Chilsen — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 01:07:51 +0000

By: Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist Alternative fuels was the theme of the eighth Future of Gas workshop. Advocates often refer to alternative fuels and decarbonization technologies (like so-called “renewable” natural gas, hydrogen and carbon capture connected to coal plants) as “false solutions” because they fail to truly deliver the clean and affordable promises made by the entities that market them. That’s a fair characterization, but after hearing the presenters during this workshop, I have a new term for this industry: “commodifying pollution.” That phrase probably hints at my bias (but I’ve never claimed to be unbiased). However, I am open to being convinced otherwise. I’ll be all for alternative fuels and carbon mitigation technologies–IF they turn out to be viable, healthy and affordable. In this workshop, we heard from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); GTI Energy (formerly known as the Gas Technology Institute); The Roanoke Gas Company; Green Era Chicago and Nicor Gas/Southern Company. EPRI’s presenter gave an analysis of the various pathways to decarbonization via alternative fuels. The presentation was quite dense and cross-referenced. It compared, contrasted and qualified such a wide range of scenarios in such specificity that untangling it would take several pages, so I’ll skip to the takeaway points: “bioenergy” and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) conceptually are important, but as a decarbonization strategy, their potential is limited. There are cost-usefulness tradeoffs for various types of fuels and technologies depending on the sector and application. GTI Energy’s presentation discussed two alternative fuels: hydrogen and “renewable natural gas,” or RNG. GTI went further than EPRI to say that the benefits of RNG and hydrogen are well known, and that both fuels are tested, ready-made alternatives to methane gas. It’s important to point out that RNG is primarily methane, and in smaller quantities, carbon dioxide. In the same way that advertisers branded methane extracted from the earth as “natural,” they’ve started calling methane that occurs via decomposition of organic matter “renewable.” Likewise, when people in the energy industry refer to hydrogen, they are usually talking about the production of hydrogen, and then using that hydrogen as fuel in a number of industrial, commercial, transportation, and even residential applications. Hydrogen is appealing, at first, because it only exhausts water vapor. Nothing wrong with that, but the important questions for any application of hydrogen are: How is it produced? How efficient is it? Is it cost effective?” As far as I can tell, there aren’t any clear answers to those questions. It’s also not clear which method of production is preferred by the fossil fuel industry. They point out that hydrogen can be produced using renewable energy, but also that it can be produced using nuclear, gas and coal energy. I suppose they estimate that the greenhouse gas emissions from production would be offset by the energy density of the hydrogen used as a fuel. I can’t say whether or not this is true, or in which applications it may or may not be true, but neither can anybody else it seems. As always, I ask you to watch the replay of the workshop, and browse the materials […]

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Illinois Future of Gas: Geothermal Energy Meeting – December 16, 2024

Elizabeth — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 17:35:16 +0000

By: Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist The final Future of Gas workshop of 2024 was possibly the most optimistic one to date. The theme of this workshop was geothermal energy and thermal energy networks (or, TENs) Geothermal energy and energy networks are both interesting and practical, and, as we heard from the many case studies presented at this workshop, they work. As usual, I encourage all of you to watch the video replay, and check out the slides from Salas O’Brien and The Accelerate Group from the Dec. 16 workshop. However, I’m not going to discuss either of those presentations here. By now I’ve probably talked enough about how well geothermal energy and heat pump technology works, but haven’t yet explored what it is that gas and electric utilities hope to accomplish in this proceeding. So that’s my subject for today. Specifically, I want to address a report from MidAmerican Energy on the efficacy of its gas and electric efficiency programs, and the predictable failure of its customer electrification experiment. MidAmerican doesn’t get a lot of attention in Illinois – most of that attention goes to ComEd and Ameren – but they should not escape scrutiny just because their service territory is relatively small. MidAmerican is an Iowa-based, investor-owned gas and electric utility that serves a good portion of the Quad Cities. It is a particularly dirty utility, owning several coal plants and thousands of miles of gas pipelines, so there’s a lot of atonement needing to be made. At this point in the Future of Gas proceedings all of the gas utilities have reported on the status of their energy efficiency programs. By and large they all believe that their programs have performed well enough, acknowledging (without anybody having asked) that there is room for improvement, which they are working on. This translates to: “The status quo is fine. We’re already decarbonizing our systems to an acceptable degree”. I’m not trying to downplay the importance of energy efficiency. Improving a building’s envelope is the most cost-effective way to reduce energy bills and building-related emissions. Using more gas-efficient appliances is obviously better than using less efficient appliances–but neither of these is a substitute for phasing out gas. It’s also important to keep in mind that the practice of energy efficiency is not synonymous with an energy efficiency program. In my first blog I cited the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s definition of energy efficiency: “Use of technology, systems or behaviors to accomplish the same task with less energy.” Programs on the other hand are offerings from gas and electric utilities that try to incentivize the people to practice energy efficiency. These programs are severely limited in their usefulness in two ways: They are difficult to access They provide very few benefits to renters, which is a significant problem since homeownership is a near-impossibility for youth and lower-income consumers. According to the Census Bureau, about a third of Illinoisans rent their homes. But in Chicago (where rent burden is highest) DePaul’s Institute for Housing Studies reports that roughly 54 percent of residents are renters. All of this is to say […]

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Illinois Future of Gas: Electrification Meeting Pt. 2 – November 18, 2024

Elizabeth — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 19:57:46 +0000

By: Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist On Monday, November 18, the Future of Gas workshop wrapped up its exploration of building electrification as a decarbonization pathway. The previous workshop (November 4) focused on residential and industrial opportunities, while this time the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) discussed commercial appliance switching for space heating and cooling, water heating and cooking. The other two presentations were from ComEd and Ameren. ComEd’s presentation was fairly well structured and addressed questions about its ability to meet winter peaking demand and whether heat pumps can be both adequate and cost effective. Ameren’s presentation was the opposite of all that. As was the case with industrial decarbonization, I think EPRI’s presentation is worth looking over if for no other reason than seeing some studies on the effectiveness of heat pumps and electric cooking. I also appreciated EPRI taking time to talk about the scale of commercial building emissions at the Illinois and national levels. It’s important to keep in mind the amount of gas each sector of the economy uses and for what purposes, lest we get caught up in the arguments from the fossil fuel industry that these sectors are either impossible to electrify, or that these sectors don’t represent much of an impact at all. This graphic shows us how commercial buildings use fossil fuels for heat, and the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from those uses: Not surprisingly, space heating is particularly dirty in the commercial sector, followed by cooking and water heating. In Illinois, according to EPRI’s study of U.S. Energy Information Administration data, 20 percent of methane gas is used in commercial buildings, and these buildings also account for 20 percent of our energy use in the state. Illinois is the eighth largest methane consumer in the nation. The good news is that across each sector of the economy the state can significantly reduce the amount of gas we need for all categories of end use, and we can begin that reduction now without much hesitation. Further reductions can continue through the medium term (5-15 years), and in the long term, we can focus on those “hard to decarbonize” end uses. So what is stopping us from embarking on a more significant reduction? As far as I can tell from these workshops, it’s an absence of effective policy combined with fear-mongering from proponents of gas. That’s not to say that there aren’t legitimate concerns to discuss, but there’s a difference between discussion and action. The goal for gas advocates in this process is to ensure that we never get to the action part, and they work to achieve this goal by discussing barriers and pushing non-decarbonization actions. Depending on the subject of the workshop and the points of view being presented, the challenges of decarbonization and the level of difficulty assigned to each of them tend to shift from meeting to meeting. When it comes to electrification, I think everybody involved would agree that the electric grid, appliance/equipment capability and affordability are three of the most important challenges to consider. ComEd addressed each of them in its presentation, and had a relatively positive […]

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Illinois Future of Gas: Electrification Meeting Pt. I – November 4, 2024

Elizabeth — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 16:49:12 +0000

By: Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist Today’s Future of Gas workshop began with an announcement: between now and Dec. 6, 2024, the ICC will be accepting decarbonization pilot project ideas from interested stakeholders. It wasn’t immediately clear how these pilots could be put into effect–or indeed if they ever would be– but ICC staff suggested that it could materialize as part of the gas utilities’ long-term infrastructure plans that are due by the summer of 2025. If you’re interested in learning more about the pilot development process or submitting a project idea, visit the ICC’s updated website. The remainder of the workshop focused on electrification as a decarbonization pathway. Iain Walker, from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, spoke about residential electrification and Nik Sawe, from Energy Innovation, covered industrial electrification. Both presentations were thorough, and I would encourage people to watch them. The Lawrence Berkeley slides covered concerns that CUB often hears from homeowners. Residential Electrification In my time at CUB, I’ve seen a lot of visual aids meant to help everyday consumers understand a pathway to a decarbonized, electrified home. Many of the visuals look nice, but often they say either way too much, or not enough. Iain Walker’s visual comes pretty close to being just right, including steps for everybody involved in the home electrification process, from residents to contractors to policymakers. Most of these concepts are as straightforward as they seem. However, I’d like to draw attention to a couple that might require an adjustment in how we choose and use our appliances. The second step of the outline above–”Low power electrification…”–is where Walker asked us to think about power vs. energy. What’s the difference? Power refers to the amount of energy an appliance requires to run, while energy refers to the amount of electricity an appliance uses over time. (We pay for energy on our monthly electric bills.) Now consider power requirements for gas vs. electric appliances. As the graph below shows, electric appliances are less power intensive compared to gas appliances. That is especially true for water- and space-heating appliances. Now think about this: Even though an electric range/oven requires a significant amount of power, it is used for shorter periods of time. On the other hand, space heating/cooling appliances are used for much longer periods of time–but electric versions are far less power intensive. And power intensity is further reduced for heat pump technology (air warming/cooling, water heaters and clothes dryers). These concepts lead to the points Iain made in step 6: “Use integrated appliances,,,: One of the major problems many people encounter is inadequate electric service. Roughly half of the houses in the U.S. have 200 amp service, which is likely enough amperage to accommodate an electrified home plus EV charging. But older homes and/or homes that are also served by gas, may only have 100 amp service, making full electrification difficult. So what can we do about that? Increasing amperage can range from moderately expensive to really expensive (as in, this-job-is-worth-more-than-my-house expensive). It may even require a prohibitively expensive upgrade to the ComEd/Ameren-side of your electric service. Iain offered some alternatives, appliance integration […]

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Illinois Future of Gas: The Energy Efficiency Meeting

Elizabeth — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:29:29 +0000

By Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist The purpose of this workshop (10/21/24) was to discuss the role and importance of energy efficiency in decarbonizing the gas system. In a word, I’d describe this workshop as “dizzying.” During these workshops I’ve become accustomed to the gas industry making fantastical claims that the only viable pathway to a clean energy future is, oddly, going backwards–expanding gas infrastructure and adopting unproven, expensive technologies like “renewable natural gas.” But today’s meeting was astonishing. It started off on a more positive note. The first presenter, from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), began with a definition of energy efficiency (EE): “Use of technology, systems or behaviors to accomplish the same task with less energy.” Additionally, EE measures are the cheapest, most effective decarbonization tools available. Retrofits not only save consumers money, they also decrease the need for new power generation. EE measures are necessary across all categories of energy users, not just residential. As ACEEE put it, energy efficiency “is a first fuel for energy transitions.” When we consider alternatives to building more expensive gas pipes, EE and weatherization measures–coupled with electric appliances–are critical to making a transition feasible, equitable and affordable. This is especially true for older houses and buildings where the “building envelope” has degraded substantially. According to the presentation, weatherizing those buildings can save consumers “11-47%” annually on their energy bills. However, we have to keep in mind that such “deep retrofits” can be expensive, and for people struggling to get by, they are prohibitively expensive. As the ACEEE speaker suggests, and CUB agrees, Illinois must ensure that we have funds available to help people in need. Another challenge for the implementation of aggressive EE and weatherization retrofits is having a workforce available to perform the work. While the existing EE/weatherization workforce far outnumbers fossil fuel workers, we need tens of thousands more people trained in that field, including HVAC contractors who understand how to size and prepare a building for super-efficient heat pump technology. But we can’t let such challenges slow the adoption rate because, as ACEEE pointed out, heat pumps can achieve 400% efficiency (gas furnaces can at most achieve 100%), they can be used in other appliances like water heaters and clothes dryers, and despite claims to the contrary, cold-weather heat pumps have been in use for years in sub-zero conditions. Still, it is important to keep in mind that heat pumps work best in buildings that are properly weatherized. (Check out CUB’s free Better Heat guide to learn more about getting your home ready for electrification.) The next presentation was given by three of Illinois’ top gas utilities: Peoples/North Shore Gas and Nicor Gas. We didn’t hear anything in this presentation that the same utilities hadn’t already said in past workshops, except that their tagline seemed to be “we can do better.” It’s hard to guess what they meant. Each speaker started with statistics from their company’s energy efficiency program, pointing out that not only have they managed to decrease the carbon footprint of their users, but that they have saved their customers thousands of dollars. […]

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What are the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Future of Gas Proceedings?

Elizabeth — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 20:21:18 +0000

In 2023, four gas utilities–Ameren Illinois, Nicor Gas, North Shore Gas and Peoples Gas–pushed for rate hikes before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Environmental and consumer advocates who challenged the rate increases also requested that the ICC order a process to study how Illinois will manage its shift away from gas use in buildings. The ICC’s Final Order initiated a series of public workshops to “explore issues tied to decarbonization of the gas system…” Phase One kicked off a seven-meeting series in the spring of 2024. The purpose of Phase One was to determine the scope of the issues to be studied. During this phase, participants were asked to suggest topics to be studied in Phase Two. At the invitation of the facilitator, presentations were given by various stakeholders, each laying out justification for whatever concerns they had relating to the future of gas. At the end of Phase One, the facilitator drafted a report summarizing the entire process, and listing the 12 topics and dozens of subtopics related to the methane gas distribution system identified during the Phase One workshops. Phase Two kicked off on Aug. 28. It will consist of three “subphases”: A, expected to continue until February 2025, will be a continuation of Phase One to get a better understanding of the pathways to decarbonization and the technology that will aid it. In B, expected to be held from March to June 2025, working groups will study feasibility, economic impacts and implementation. Subphase C, scheduled for July to October 2025, will focus on legislative and regulatory solutions. At the end of these proceedings, the facilitator, along with ICC staff, will draft a final report, summarizing, categorizing, linking and compiling all of the findings from each phase and subphase. We expect this report to make recommendations to lawmakers and relevant regulatory agencies. It’s safe to say that lawmakers will lean heavily on this report to inform their decisions on legislation concerning the long-term transition to cleaner and more affordable heat for buildings. It’s a big deal that the contents of this report will be determined by Future of Gas participants–and that’s why CUB is involved. Stay tuned for more updates from CUB’s ICC Future of Gas series at www.citizensutilityboard.org/FOG.

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