Expanded, long-term planning by gas utilities will contribute to a better understanding of the full range of pathways available for decarbonization and the affordability and reliability implications of the various pathways that include a long-term role for gas infrastructure. Also, more direct comparison of electrification and the use of high-efficiency gas appliances, renewable natural gas, and hydrogen is necessary to educate stakeholders.
In this paper David Walls and Herb Rakebrand discuss these strategies and the federal, state, and municipal policy and regulatory environment context in which they will need to be implemented.
