Underground Infrastructure - June 2023 - 11

Recent polling found that 87 percent of New Yorkers want
access to natural gas, and 77 percent oppose efforts to move
away from gas service. In addition, stakeholders who rely
on natural gas services, such as restaurants, expressed even
higher levels of support. The fact that the number of new gas
customers continues to grow nationwide does not seem to
pair with shortsighted efforts to restrict access to natural gas.
There are several other states that have taken significant action.
In parts of Oregon, for example, there is a gas ban on the
state ballot, giving consumers the opportunity to actually not
to have it imposed on them by sometimes unelected officials.
The debut of the movie, " How to Blow Up a Pipeline, " is
unfortunate and premiered in several states with big college
towns. While the impacts of this film are not yet known, pipeline
operators are paying special attention to some of the security
measures taken to keep trespassers off of pipeline job sites,
and associations are advising state and federal agencies about
the film and possible criminal activities by misguided advocates.
The discussion then went on to some of the " bad news "
coming out of federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of
Energy and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, that
have proposed and implied the need for policy to either ban
gas stoves and other appliances or set emission standards at
levels that would essentially invalidate use of natural gas. In addition,
the industry has seen negative actions from several other
federal authorities, including the Environmental Protection
Agency and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Scrutiny of line extensions and even pipe replacement continues
to increase. While 23 states have enacted some type of
" fuel choice " legislation, with another six in play, efforts to
quash consumer choice through mandatory electrification are
expected to continue.
Although the majority of states have indicated they want
fuel choice and the untenable goals of some overzealous activists
are becoming more transparent, this is no reason for
the industry to rest on its laurels. The need to continue efforts
to rebut unwarranted and sometimes blatantly false claims,
relating to post-meter gas emissions with harmful health
impacts, remains.
Hydrogen pipelines
Hydrogen is obviously gaining additional attention, as utilities
consider carbon reduction initiatives. A session led by
an AGA member company described how hydrogen pipeline
systems and blending higher levels of hydrogen in existing
natural gas pipeline infrastructure can efficiently and effectively
create, capture, transport and utilize hydrogen at much
higher levels in the future.
On the " path to net-zero, " hydrogen offers a range of
benefits. Considered by some as the " Swiss Army Knife " of
energy, hydrogen can essentially provide the same service as
natural gas, but without emissions. Some operators are conducting
pilot projects to test different blending approaches in
states like Utah, Ohio and North Carolina.
Blending percentages are being tested to gauge reliability,
sustainability and affordability. The main push is to reach
20-percent blending of hydrogen everywhere there is interest.
The task force conducting these pilots establishes standard
operating procedures, operator qualifications, training
and safety procedures as part of these tests.
Hydrogen hubs are also being formed and expanded to
see if they may minimize the cost of infrastructure. Hubs are
getting major press in several parts of the country, including
Appalachia, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and West.
Bringing in academia, operators, contractors, and other stakeholders,
20-percent hydrogen blending is the most common
level, although some are already talking about 40 percent.
Effects on steel lines are getting an increasingly hard look,
both in possible percentage levels and possible impacts on
welding procedures. Much is still unknown, but increased attention
on hydrogen is expected to lead to more opportunities.
Questions remain about future hubs and whether states
will " go it alone " or band together to create regional hubs.
OQIP
The OQ Integrity Coalition continues to pilot test the
Operator Qualification Integrity Process (OQIP) approach
and raise the bar on operator qualification. Pilot Programs
in the Southwest, Northwest and Michigan are ongoing.
Representatives from the OQIP pilots provided a panel
discussion on the status of their programs, initiatives and
contents identified in their recently released " White Papers "
about each pilot. Panelists discussed their implementation
processes, lessons learned, and other points discovered
during their pilot execution and deployment.
The OQIP effort joined together operators, contractors,
service providers and government representatives to improve
the integrity of the OQ process through increased consistenUndergroundInfrastructure.com
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Underground Infrastructure - June 2023

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