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Activists have a new strategy to shut down the Aliso Canyon gas reservoir

Since the historic methane explosion in October 2015, local lawmakers, citizens and activists have been pressing state regulators and officials, including the governor, to close the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility.

The leak at the Porter Ranch facility lasted 121 days and pumped more than 100,000 tons of methane and other chemicals into the sky. It was the largest gas leak in US 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 too much on the facility's closing, they're also calling for citizens to embrace green technology, and they're using SoCalGas to help make it happen.

At a press conference Wednesday in front of the gas company's headquarters in Chatsworth, state Sen. Henry Stern (D-Calabasas) and Assemblyman Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth) urged members of the public to speed up the closure of Aliso Canyon by using less gas and turning around. in electronics.

The two, along with community activists, announced that money from a $71 million settlement between SoCalGas and its regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, will be used to advance those efforts as the commission deliberates on a plan to close Aliso Canyon in the area. distant future.

“We still believe this facility can be closed,” said Stern, “but this grant is designed to help ordinary homeowners, people who send their children to school in the Valley, take the closure of Aliso Canyon into their own hands.”

The funding is expected to be divided into four parts: 40 million dollars to carry out the replacement of domestic heaters and water that are now supplied with natural gas, 15 million dollars to green the school grounds; $14 million for extreme heat mitigation and community outreach programs, and $2 million for community outreach and decarbonization education.

“This is an important step forward in bringing some level of justice and creating healthy and sustainable communities and futures for the communities affected by the Aliso Canyon disaster,” Schiavo said.

$40 million will go to a statewide program that promotes the use of electric heat pumps for district heating and water heating. While every homeowner within SoCalGas is eligible for the $1,000 rebate, the program will prioritize those in the affected Aliso Canyon 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 dependence on fossil fuels, and the market is increasingly ready to meet the increase in demand,” said Robin Tung, director of communications for the Building Decarbonization Coalition, in the news. conference. The group is one of several working with the affected Aliso Canyon community to push electricity over gas and appliance options.

All other funds will be available only to the affected communities in Aliso Canyon.

As for green schoolyards, $15 million will be earmarked to increase green space, reduce asphalt and blacktops in affected cities, counties, school districts, special districts and non-profit organizations. $14 million in extreme heat relief will support senior community centers with adequate and efficient air conditioning.

The compensation funding for these efforts is separate from the $1.8-billion agreement between Aliso Canyon neighbors and SoCalGas through 2021, or other payments and penalties paid by SoCalGas and its parent, Sempra Energy.

SoCalGas spokesman Chris Gilbride, who was at the news conference, did not comment directly on the deal.

He noted that SoCalGas “shares[s] It is the commission's view that Aliso Canyon is a necessary part of California's energy infrastructure today.”

California Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo listens as California Sen. Henry Stern talks about a $71-million cash check given to members of communities affected by the Alison Canyon Well failure in front of Southern California Gas Company in Chatsworth on Wednesday.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

The news conference comes after the CPUC released a proposal on November 13 that could lead to the closure of Aliso Canyon for years to come. Local activists and politicians have criticized the plan, saying it does not provide fast enough or a clear enough timeline for closing the site.

The proposal calls for moving forward with closing the site if Southern California's demand for natural gas has declined to a point where more demand can be supplied outside of Aliso Canyon.

According to the plan, the CPUC will begin review procedures and possibly close the plant only if the maximum demand forecast for two years in the future is less than 4,121 million metric cubic feet per day.

The peak, currently forecast at 4,618 million metric cubic feet per day, is expected to drop to 4,197 million by 2030, according to the CPUC.

Stern estimated that the earliest the facility could close under the proposal would be 2039.

Activists like Matt Pakucko, president of the advocacy group Save Porter Ranch, which has been fighting to close the storage facility since shortly after the leak, said SoCalGas and Gov. Gavin Newsom on this issue has been wrong.

“This is not an energy issue, it's a health issue,” said Pakucko.

The closure plan will be discussed at the commission's Dec. 19 meeting in San Francisco. The public can attend in person or in person.


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