In 2020, a northeastern U.S. state’s Public Utilities Commission initiated a proceeding to examine the gas planning processes of the state’s investor-owned natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs). The initiative came after the enactment of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which set statewide targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
While the CLCPA did not establish targets for the natural gas sector or individual utilities, it was evident that LDCs would be required to play a significant role in achieving these statewide targets. The Commission was also responding to the recent need for downstate LDCs to issue moratoria on new customer connections to address supply-demand balances during the winter period.
Nine utilities participated in this proceeding as a collective party known as the “Joint LDCs.” Concentric was engaged to lead a collaborative effort that included preparing two sets of comments addressing gas planning and policies to address the potential for future moratoria. Several other stakeholders, including leading national environmental organizations, participated actively in the proceeding.
Concentric was retained based on its experience leading collaborative efforts among utilities and its subject matter expertise in gas planning and regulation. On May 12, 2022 the Commission issued orders addressing gas planning and moratoria processes. Each LDC was instructed to prepare a Long-Term Plan (LTP) to be filed on a staggered basis between December 2022 and May 2024.
This initial policy engagement and modeling competencies have led to Concentric being retained to assist several LDCs in preparing their initial LTP filings.
