Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) employees work continuously to find innovative ways to reduce emissions and provide customers with equipment that helps to keep their energy bills affordable.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) awarded $1.7 million in funding to SoCalGas for two projects aimed to reduce emissions in residential and commercial buildings. The funding will support two programs: a commercial water heating incentive program that provides rebates to distributors selling ultra-low emission water heaters and testing of a 1.5-kilowatt fuel cell in a new, mixed fuel, zero-net-energy home. The fuel cell will demonstrate how renewable energy and natural gas can work together to reduce emissions at the lowest cost for the homeowner.
Bret Lane, chief executive officer of SoCalGas, recently penned an op-ed published in Fox and Hounds Daily, emphasizing how curbing California's emissions requires cooperation from all sectors – policymakers, businesses and consumers.
“To continue to have the Los Angeles region and California thrive, we must find a way to achieve the state’s ambitious climate goal to be carbon neutral by 2045 in a way that is affordable and continues to allow choice in energy options,” wrote Lane in the op-ed.
The Los Angeles region is the largest manufacturing region within the United States, and this AQMD program is a prime example of what can be achieved when working together.
SoCalGas is also working to curb emissions by increasing the production and use of renewable natural gas, which turns waste from dairies, farms, wastewater and landfills, into a source of clean and renewable energy to fuel homes and businesses. Renewable natural gas offers a carbon-neutral or carbon-negative alternative, meaning it takes out more carbon emissions from the air than it emits as an energy source.
In Southern California, natural gas is the most affordable and reliable option for water heating, cooking and space heating. More than 90 percent of residents use natural gas to heat, hot water or other uses, and Californians prefer natural gas for heating and cooking by a margin of 4 to 1 because it is more affordable and reliable than electricity.
Read more about SoCalGas’ energy-efficiency programs and award funding here.
