An Affordable Path to Environmental Sustainability

We have one earth. In the increasingly urgent search for solutions to the environmental impacts of climate change, we must work together and be inclusive. No idea should be ruled out or discounted.??We need to be open to all options, especially those that are sensible and affordable.?

Last month, the American Gas Association?released an analysis?detailing how natural gas utilities are an essential part of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, including achieving net-zero emissions.?The new?study, “Net-Zero Emissions Opportunities for Gas Utilities,” presents a national-level approach that leverages the unique advantages of gas technologies and distribution infrastructure.??

As President and CEO of one of the largest natural gas distribution companies in the nation and this year's Chair of AGA, I am incredibly proud of how natural gas and our infrastructure contribute to America’s economic stability, national security and cleaner energy future.??I am determined to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions while fulfilling the life essential role that natural gas plays in communities across the nation.?We must achieve an equitable and sustainable energy future while maintaining resilience and reliability.??

There is not a one-size-fits-all solution for this challenge. Each company in our industry and each state’s regulatory oversight is different.?The way you get to net zero matters.?Keeping customer bills affordable and energy costs low matters.?Giving consumers energy choice matters.?Keeping reliability high matters.?Americans do not want fewer choices, higher prices or less reliable energy, and the companies and policymakers who are responsible for their wellbeing cannot allow it.?

To align with Southern Company’s?ambitious goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our enterprise-wide operations to net zero by 2050, Southern Company Gas will engage with policymakers, state regulators and stakeholder groups to create proposals that support that goal.?

Over the past 20 years, Southern Company Gas has invested more than $2.2 billion in improving and replacing pipeline infrastructure to enhance the safety and reliability of our system, with the added result of reducing methane emissions.?These efforts have allowed us to achieve 99.8% efficiency in the delivery of natural gas from our distribution system.?

We don’t just meet compliance requirements. We voluntarily set goals and consider additional emissions sources beyond existing EPA reporting requirements through efforts like Our Nation’s Energy (ONE) Future. A coalition of natural gas system companies, ONE Future has a collective goal of reducing?methane emissions across the entire supply chain, from production through consumption, equivalent to 1% or less of total natural gas production.??We also understand our customers are searching for ways to reduce their own carbon footprints. That’s why we offer our customers extensive energy efficiency programs and other services like carbon offset and Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) programs that allow them to take control of their own energy use.?

Southern Company Gas is looking to the future to seek opportunities to leverage our infrastructure and support the implementation of renewable natural gas, a fully interchangeable alternative to geologic natural gas capable of reducing GHG emissions that has a suite of benefits, such as capturing waste methane emissions from other sources like agriculture and landfills and converting it into a useful fuel for our customers.?

We have implemented renewable gas interconnection tariffs and purchase programs to help foster the growth of RNG opportunities in our service territories, and we are exploring opportunities to foster even more RNG project growth in our states.

We’re at the forefront of research and development.?Southern Company Gas has a robust industry partnership approach to R&D to support innovation.?For example, we’re partnering with six national labs and over 20 other industry and academia participants in the HyBlend initiative, a Department of Energy project investigating opportunities to blend hydrogen with natural gas in existing U.S. natural gas infrastructure. The research analyzes hydrogen materials compatibility, techno-economics and life-cycle emissions to develop publicly accessible tools that characterize opportunities, costs and risks. The results could have national and regional benefits for energy storage, resiliency and emissions reductions.

Southern Company Gas, in participation with Southern Company, is partnering with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and many other utilities on the Low-Carbon Resources Initiative (LCRI) — a five-year initiative to evaluate and scale cutting-edge technologies that will advance the gas and energy utility sector toward meeting ambitious emissions goals.

Our environmental efforts extend into the communities we serve and their natural resources.?Southern Company Gas has a long and established history of environmental stewardship and long-held partnerships with environmental conservation organizations. Working with organizations like the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and The Nature Conservancy in states where we operate, we focus on local solutions to challenges.?A few of our conservation efforts include planting longleaf pine seedlings, preserving nature trails, building community food gardens, restoring prairie habitats, rebuilding oyster reefs, addressing water quality issues in priority watersheds and removing invasive plants on city parks to create more green spaces.??

EverGreen, our employee-led grassroots environmental?organization, inspires and empowers communities to be more sustainable through education, promotion of conversation and biodiversity and relationships with community allies.?

While policymakers at every level wrestle with the question of how we get to net-zero emissions, the natural gas industry is advancing practical solutions and making investments that are enabling our country to meet both its higher energy demands and its environmental goals?— keeping affordability in mind for our customers.

For over 100 years, America’s natural gas utilities have consistently provided solutions to our nation's most pressing energy and environmental goals. We are embracing technologies and options available to us and?investing and participating in the development of those emerging technologies.?We will deliver cleaner energy AND provide the affordable energy that Americans need.?

Kim Greene is Chairman, President and CEO of Southern Company Gas. She also serves as Chairman of the American Gas Association.