Background and Project Need
Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) delivers safe, reliable natural gas to 20.9 million consumers throughout Central and Southern California. To help keep prices low, protect customers from price spikes, and meet higher customer demand for natural gas in the winter, we buy gas throughout the year and store it at our storage facilities like Aliso Canyon.
SoCalGas operates and maintains the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, the largest of four such facilities. At the Aliso Canyon storage facility, we store natural gas thousands of feet below the earth’s surface in depleted underground oil fields. Above the stored natural gas are impermeable layers of rock and geological formations. Currently, three natural gas turbine-driven compressors are used to inject the gas deep into the ground. This equipment, installed in the 1970s must be replaced after years of careful maintenance. To inject and withdraw the natural gas as needed, we propose installing new, efficient electric compressors. In order to operate the electric compressors, Southern California Edison (SCE) will install new and modified electrical transmission facilities.
The Aliso Canyon storage facility, located north of Porter Ranch and Northridge, sits on approximately 3600 acres of land. The project area is about a half mile beyond the Sesnon Boulevard entrance and will be located in the valley of the property. This project is anticipated to result in a significant reduction of air pollutants and greenhouse gases at this site.
Project Description
- Construct a new building and install new equipment including three 22,000-horsepower (HP) motors, compressors, piping, coolers, and other additional equipment required for the storage operations.
- Relocate existing office facilities and relocate the facility’s guard house to help improve traffic flow on Sesnon Boulevard.
- SoCalGas will construct a new 12-kilovolt (kV) power line that will provide dedicated electric service to the upgraded Aliso Canyon storage facility from SCE’s substation.
- SCE will construct a customer-dedicated substation at the Aliso Canyon storage facility and will modify an existing 66-kV subtransmission line from SCE’s Newhall Substation in Santa Clarita to the new substation at Aliso Canyon to supply power to the facility.
- SCE will make modifications to three existing SCE substations (Newhall, Chatsworth, and San Fernando Substations) to accommodate the 66-kV service to the Aliso Canyon storage facility.
Approval Process
The project is subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The CPUC is the state regulatory agency that issues permits for construction of certain natural gas and electrical facilities. Before construction can begin:
- SoCalGas submitted an application on September 30, 2009 to the CPUC requesting approval to construct the project. SoCalGas’ application included a Proponent’s Environmental Assessment (PEA), which evaluated the environmental impacts of the project.
- The CPUC will review the application in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act and either approve the project as filed, approve the project with modifications, or deny the project.
- For more information on the CPUC’s regulatory process, please visit the CPUC’s website at cpuc.ca.gov. *
Anticipated Project Schedule
- September 2009 -- Application filed.
- November 4 and 5, 2010 -- CPUC Public Scoping Meetings held
- 2012 -- CPUC decision is expected and, if approved, the engineering and construction phases of the project will begin
- 2015 -- Project is expected to be operational
Environmental Considerations
The Project is subject to approval by the CPUC. The CPUC's Transmission and Environmental Permitting Section (Permitting Section) conducts and manages environmental reviews for the CPUC's consideration. Environmental reviews are conducted pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the CPUC's CEQA-related rules. The Permitting Section is part of the CPUC's Energy Division.
The CPUC's rules require that project applications submitted to the CPUC include a Proponent's Environmental Assessment (PEA). The rules require that the PEA include detailed information and studies in a number of environmental resource areas. Consistent with the CPUC's rules, SoCalGas has filed a comprehensive study called a Proponent’s Environmental Assessment (PEA), which was submitted as part of the application in 2009. The PEA will analyze the potential environmental impacts of the Project in the following categories:
Aesthetics
Agriculture Resources
Air Quality
Biological Resources
Cultural Resources
Geology, Soils, and Seismicity
Hazards and Hazardous Materials
Hydrology and Water Quality
Land Use and Planning
Mineral Resources
Noise
Population and Housing
Public Services
Recreation
Transportation and Traffic
Utilities and Services Systems
Cumulative Analysis
- Growth-Inducing Impacts
Once the PEA is submitted to the CPUC, the CPUC will independently review SoCalGas' PEA and determine the appropriate CEQA document to prepare. Depending on the potential environmental impacts of the Project, the CPUC will prepare either a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) or an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) under CEQA. The CPUC will publish notices to the public during the environmental review process and will accept comments on the MND or EIR before making a decision on the CPCN application. To help keep you informed, SoCalGas will update this website periodically to include CPUC notices and other information about the environmental review process.
SoCalGas encourages you to participate in the CPUC's formal environmental review process for the Project. If you have comments or questions that you would like to submit directly to SoCalGas outside of the formal process, please send them to alisoproject@semprautilities.com. Please note that any comments submitted to SoCalGas directly are not a part of the CPUC's administrative record.
For more information about the CPUC's environmental regulatory process, please visit their website at http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/Environment/info/ene/aliso_canyon/aliso_canyon_home.html.*
Helpful Web Resources
- SCE's Information Page on Electric Magnetic Fields *
- California Public Utilities Commission Homepage *
- CPUC Step-by-Step Guide to Regulatory Process *
- SCE's Path of Electricity Tutorial *
For More Information
If you have questions or comments about the project or would like to be added to the project mailing list, please contact:
Rochelle Silsbee, Public Affairs Manager
Southern California Gas Company
Regional Public Affairs Manager
Phone: 1-877-830-2669
Email: RSilsbee@semprautilities.com
*By clicking the link, you will leave www.socalgas.com and transfer directly to the website of a third party provider which is not part of the Southern California Gas Company. The Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy on that website will apply.
Updated 3/2012