SoCalGas Renews Program to Deliver BioCNG to Fuel Stations in California

(SoCalGas/NGV Journal) Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has renewed a program to supply renewable natural gas to all 32 of the company’s fueling stations, along with six in the San Diego area, signing three-year contracts with suppliers U.S. Gain and Element Markets as demand continues to grow. In April 2019, SoCalGas began replacing traditional CNG at fueling stations with biomethane to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet California’s climate goals.

Considered carbon negative by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) since September 2020, the bio-CNG delivered at the 38 fueling stations helped avoid approximately 275,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions over the last three years – equivalent to eliminating nearly 31 million gallons of gasoline burned, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

“Our first three years dispensing renewable natural gas at our fueling stations have been a dramatic success, both in terms of moving forward toward our climate goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also in demonstrating the growing demand for clean renewable natural gas in our region,” said Elsa Valay-Paz, SoCalGas vice president of gas acquisition. “We dispensed 46% more renewable natural gas the last year than we did during the first two years, and we expect demand to continue to grow.”

The new three-year renewal continues SoCalGas’ partnership with U.S. Gain. SoCalGas signed a new contract with Element Markets to provide biomethane as a second partner.

“We’re honored to continue working with SoCalGas to build on the success of the last three years, connecting their fleet with renewable natural gas in support of their decarbonization journey,” said Bryan Nudelbacher, U.S. Gain’s Director of Business Development. “Successful programs like this can help accelerate renewable natural gas adoption across industries, applications and geographies to reduce emissions and make a real impact on climate change.”

“We’re pleased to have been chosen to partner with SoCalGas as they explore and expand the use of low carbon renewable natural gas,” said Angela Schwarz, CEO of Element Markets. “As the leading independent marketer of renewable natural gas in the U.S. and, with our recent merger with Bluesource, the largest marketer and originator of carbon and environmental credits in North America, we welcome the opportunity to grow in our role a trusted provider of decarbonization solutions that progress sustainability mandates and voluntary goals.”

Last year, SoCalGas received the 2021 NGV Achievement Award in the Utility Leadership for outstanding contributions to the advancement of natural gas as a transportation fuel, in part for its biomethane efforts at fueling stations. READ MORE