Editorial: PUC makes the right call on gas storage

Published Friday, Jul. 13, 2012

It took more than five years but in the end, the California Public Utilities Commission listened to the concerns of residents from Sacramento's Avondale/Glen Elder neighborhood and rejected a proposal to store 7.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas under their homes. It was the right decision.

As the three commissioners who voted against the proposal stated, the need for the project did not outweigh its potential risks. Those risks included gas leakage, water contamination and even explosions. While the risks were remote, the environmental impact report for the project found them to be unavoidable.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District, the target customer for the stored gas, has other less dangerous options for securing replacement gas supplies in the event of an interruption from PG&E pipelines. Given the uncertainties involved in storing gas at high pressures under a residential neighborhood, the project could not be justified, especially since there was no urgent need for it.

To read the entire article go to: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/13/4628000/puc-makes-the-right-call-on-gas.html