Engagements

US-Based Natural Gas Utility – Charting decarbonization pathways for LDCs in North America

CRA worked with a US-based natural gas utility to develop alternative path forward towards decarbonization of their existing assets and achieving net zero emissions across multiple states. Our analysis leveraged CRA’s in-house Hydrogen Economics Across the Value Chain (HEAVC) model to provide a view of different business model options for achieving net-zero that included introducing hydrogen into their system over time to serve different customer segments.

Situation

A US-based natural gas utility was looking to determine how best to traverse the energy transition and decarbonize their system while simultaneously leveraging their existing asset infrastructure and expertise. The Client needed expertise to help develop various decarbonization pathways for their business and determine how each respective pathway would ultimately impact long term demand, business performance, and customer rates.

Approach

CRA developed a suite of decarbonization pathway scenarios for the client including the utilization of renewable natural gas, hydrogen, energy efficiency, and electrification to meet customer’s heating needs

CRA’s analysis leveraged in-depth technical and modeling capabilities to understand the carbon emissions impact associated with each pathway, capital and operating costs, and how each pathway would ultimately affect rates charged to their customers. CRA also developed potential demand forecast curves for each customer segment under different pathway scenarios. Results from this effort quantified potential impacts while providing novel approaches on how to introduce hydrogen into the system over time.

Impact

CRA’s detailed decarbonization pathways including associated customer, system, and financial impacts were presented to support a broader strategic discussion on long term options for the utility in the context of decarbonization.

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