Southern California is poised to have greater natural gas supply flexibility this winter, buoyed by improved access to local storage and the completion of repairs on an important inbound pipeline. Ongoing pipeline outages and maintenance had limited flows over the past few years, creating supply constraints that were then compounded by restricted access to the Aliso Canyon storage field. This led to major volatility in gas prices, which spiked as high as $39/MMBtu in July 2018. Recent repairs and regulatory changes aim to alleviate the situation and limit the likelihood of dramatic pricing moves during the 2019-20 winter season. Today, we provide an overview of recent developments in the SoCal gas market.
Figure 1. California Gas Pipeline Systems and Storage. Source: RBN
California has two major intrastate gas transmission pipeline systems: the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) system (blue lines in Figure 1), which encompasses most of the northern half of the state, and the Southern California Gas (SoCal Gas, orange lines) system, which operates across much of the south (see Figure 1). In the southwestern corner of the state, there is also the Sempra Energy-owned San Diego Gas & Electric pipeline system serving local utility customers (SDG&E, green lines). The majority of the gas transported and consumed in California is sourced from out-of-state basins. While Northern California receives most of its gas from Western Canada and the Rocky Mountains, Southern California receives most of its gas from the Permian and San Juan basins, as well as the Rockies. Both the PG&E and SoCal Gas pipeline systems have multiple storage fields in California (red pentagons on the map), either owned outright or in partnership with other companies.
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About the song
"Los Angeles, I'm Yours" was written by Colin Meloy, and appears as the third song on The Decemberists second full-length studio album, Her Majesty the Decemberists. Recorded between February and March 2003 and released in September 2003, it was done at a time when all of the band members still had day jobs. Meloy recounts being bummed that he had to work while the string quartet used on "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" was being recorded at the band's warehouse in Portland. The album was produced by The Decemberists, Larry Crane and Adam Selzer. The album's artwork was done by Meloy's long-time girlfriend (and now wife), Carson Ellis. Personnel on the record were: Colin Meloy (lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitar), Chris Funk (electric guitar, synthesizer, pedal steel, lap steel, dobro), Jenny Conlee (organ, piano, accordion, backing vocals), Jesse Emerson (bass) and Rachel Blumberg (drums). Mike Johnson did the string arrangement on the song, featuring the string quartet of Bridget Callahan, Mike Lah, Lucia Atkinson and Emily Cox.
The Decemberists are an indie rock band formed in Portland, OR, in 2000. They have released eight studio albums, one live album, 10 EPs and 20 singles. The current lineup of Colin Meloy, Jenny Conlee, Chris Funk, Nate Query and John Moen still record and tour.
