Angeles Link Denial Draws Broad Support, but Parties Look to Contain Precedent Risk

On April 9, parties filed comments on a proposed decision denying SoCalGas's request to recover $266 million from natural gas ratepayers to fund Phase 2 front-end engineering and design work for the Angeles Link hydrogen pipeline project.

Recall that the Angeles Link proposes dedicated hydrogen transmission pipelines to deliver renewable hydrogen into the Los Angeles Basin for hard-to-electrify sectors including power generation, industrial uses, and heavy-duty transportation.

• The PD finds that the project remains speculative, with no specific customer base identified – as required by a 2022 decision (D.22-12-055) – no guarantee of construction, and no demonstrated direct benefits to existing natural gas ratepayers.
• The PD concludes that ratepayer funding is not justified at this stage, emphasizing that the project is still in planning, has seen cost estimates rise, and lacks clear alignment with established standards requiring projects to be "used and useful" before cost recovery.
• The PD does not adopt TURN's alternative proposal to track Phase 2 costs in a memorandum account for future recovery once the project becomes operational.

Below is a roundup of parties' comments on the PD; if any additional comments surface we will update accordingly.