Peoples pledges to plug leaking methane from Pittsburgh gas lines

Peoples Gas hopes to cut methane emissions from its Pittsburgh distribution system by 50 percent by the end of the year using new leak detection technology, the utility company said.

Peoples’ pledge is described as the first of its kind by a U.S. utility.

The utility plans to use leak detection methods developed in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund, Colorado State University and Google Earth Outreach, whereby methane escaping from aging underground pipes can be mapped and measured.

Nearly half of the pipes operated by Peoples are more than 50 years old. The worst leaks will be tackled first.

“This new commitment is supportive of our multi-billion dollar pipeline modernization and methane mitigation program,” said CEO Morgan O’Brien. “As a company and as a partner to the city of Pittsburgh, we are committed to climate action.”

Methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, is considered a potent greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years it is in the atmosphere, Peoples said.

Leaks will be mapped throughout 2019 using a laser-based methane analyzer installed on a Peoples survey vehicle. With that information, scientists at CSU will use an algorithm to quantify the volume of methane emissions from each leak so that Peoples can focus its system upgrades on the largest ones, the company said.

The pilot program will be limited to Pittsburgh and its 950 miles of pipeline until Peoples has a chance to analyze the data at the end of year, company spokesman Barry Kukovich said.

The program may then be extended to the other 17 counties in Western Pennsylvania served by Peoples, he said. Peoples has more than 70,000 customers in Westmoreland County — about 10 percent of its total customer count.

“We continue to use our standard methane technology through the rest of our system,” Kukovich said. “We systematically monitor our lines every day via vehicles or employees walking along them with hand-held detection equipment.”

Gov. Tom Wolf pledged that the state government would cut greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent by 2025 and by 80 percent by 2050 — both from 2005 levels.

The nonbinding executive order establishes the first statewide goal to reduce carbon pollution in Pennsylvania.

The Peoples announcement got a tepid response from at least one environmentalist group.

Matt Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project, an online clearinghouse for air quality information in Greater Pittsburgh, called for a broader policy on renewable energy.

“On the positive side, methane reduction goals are laudable and show a commitment on the part of the state where there has been none. However, leak detection is not an economic vision for the future. These are tiny steps, and we need bolder action,” Mehalik said.

Stephen Huba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Stephen at 724-850-1280, shuba@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shuba_trib.