The people of Orange Cove in Fresno County could soon be an unwitting part of an experiment in dangerous and costly waste on public services. And if California gas companies have their way, families across the state will be forced to pay higher energy bills, breathe more indoor air pollution, and endure greater safety risks.
Southern California Gas Co. wants to use Orange Cove for Hydrogen mixture test with natural gas. in its pipeline network. This may seem futuristic and neat because it would reduce fossil fuel use, but it would waste $64 million of SoCalGas customers' money and threaten the health and safety of this community, without actually fighting climate change.
Worse yet, SoCalGas and two other utilities just required state regulators will skip pilot projects entirely. If approved, they could apply to pump a 5% hydrogen blend throughout California. without demonstrating security.
The problem is mixing hydrogen in pipes and appliances designed for gas. Hydrogen leaks more, is more flammable and burns hotter and faster than gas. You can't smell it or see it, and burning it increases air pollution in homes, which causes asthma, and risks damaging appliances. Forcing consumers to burn hydrogen worsens fire, explosion and health risks in our homes, where we should feel safer
The truth is that gas companies' hydrogen blending proposals are intended to keep customers hooked on pipelines. Utility companies make huge profits from investing in infrastructure. more than 10% for SoCalGas. The smartest approach for Californians would be to switch from gas appliances to electric ones, protecting customers from volatile gas prices and toxic indoor air. But that would hurt gas companies' profits.
In my state of Colorado, our largest utility, Xcel Energy, proposed to mix hydrogen in the natural gas system serving a Denver suburb. When the community learned that Xcel was forcing residents to opt for an expensive and dangerous gas alternative under the guise of climate action, they responded with enough time to force Xcel to pause its effort.
This story is unfolding across the country and the world. In Eugene, Mineral.Resident backlash caused NW Natural to cancel its hydrogen blending pilot program. In MassachusettsState regulators prevented utilities from implementing similar plans. In the United Kingdom, residents of Whitby and red car they protected themselves from even greater proposals.
Orange Cove is the next big thing. SoCalGas began campaigning to blend hydrogen in 2022, but residents recently discovered the truth and are speak accordingly. State regulators expected to act Juneand your decision will have far-reaching consequences.
The SoCalGas proposal stems from state policy to reduce climate pollution from gas utility systems — a good idea, but a threat to utility profits. In theory, replacing natural gas with hydrogen can help gas companies reduce emissions while still investing in pipelines, because hydrogen can be produced and burned without emitting greenhouse gases.
But that's where the advantages of hydrogen end.
Let's get the dirty laundry out of the proposal: SoCalGas' proposal to blend less than 5% hydrogen into the Orange Cove system, which serves approximately 2,000 customer gas meters – it would cost $64 million more than 18 months. This is comparable to removing tailpipe pollution from 100 cars for one year.
That same $64 million could permanently eliminate pollution from 12 times the same number of gasoline cars if used to buy new electric vehicles. It's also worth about $32,000 per customer gas meter in Orange Cove, more than enough for the community to install electric heat pumps, heat pump water heaters and induction cooktops, reducing gas usage to zero.
Using that $64 million to fund incentives for cleaner, more efficient appliances could help tens of thousands of Californians eliminate indoor air pollution and climate emissions.
This price is ridiculous for an 18 month experiment. Clean hydrogen is an extremely expensive way to heat homes. Current prices are 10 to 25 times greater than that of natural gasand even the most optimistic forecasts We expect it to remain much more expensive for decades.
gas utilities say Orange Cove will “report on the feasibility of developing a hydrogen injection standard” to decarbonize its broader systems, but that hides the truth: hydrogen blending is a dead end that would, at best, reduce climate emissions from gas companies in less than 7%. California's gas system was not designed to safely handle more than a small proportion of hydrogen, so this pilot project could not be significantly expanded without the complete replacement of all gas pipelines and appliances.
Pilot projects seem small in the grand scheme of things, but they give legitimacy to a bad idea. discredited as climate solution and wisely rejected by other communities time and time again. It would be even worse to abandon the pilot tests and go straight to harming Californians with statewide mixing.
Hydrogen is categorically not a “false solution” for the climate. We need it to clean things like fertilizers, chemicals and jet fuel – products without cheaper clean alternatives that are manufactured in specialized industrial complexes overseen by trained technicians.
But California doesn't need hydrogen to clean its buildings. Families are already choosing appliances to enjoy a completely clean and higher quality service. Hydrogen cannot save our gas networks; It can only waste money and delay California's work to stop climate change.
Forcing communities to use hydrogen also reduces consumer choice. People are free to install electrical appliances when they are ready, using government and utility incentives. With hydrogen mixing, households and businesses would have to use lower quality gas whether they want to or not, and the safety and health risks will be condemned.
The California Public Utilities Commission plays a critical role in protecting customers from utility investments that involve unjustifiable rate increases. Ultimately, the Orange Cove pilot is nothing more than a costly waste of customers' money with no short-term benefit and a minuscule contribution to California's climate efforts.
The mountain of scientific literature against hydrogen blending, the lessons learned by other regulators and communities rejecting similar pilot projects, and the voices of Orange Cove residents should be enough to close the door on this potential boondoggle.
Dan Esposito is fuels and chemicals program manager at the nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation.
