Colorado Springs Utilities and three other utility companies operating in Colorado are seeking new sources of renewable natural gas as part of ongoing statewide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Colorado Springs Utilities, Atmos Energy Corporation, Black Hills Energy and Xcel Energy-Colorado on Monday issued a joint request for information seeking future developers of renewable natural gas.

“This is the beginning of what’s going to be a long-term project for all utilities in the state … to provide renewable natural gas for our systems,” Tom Henley, senior community program manager at Black Hills Energy, said by phone Monday.

The request will help each of the four utilities meet new Colorado laws passed in 2021 for clean heat sources, utilities officials said on their respective websites.

For example, gas distribution utilities with more than 90,000 customers must submit Clean Heat Plans to the state by Aug. 1. The plans support efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide, and must show how the utilities propose to work with their residential and business customers to reduce carbon emissions generated from natural-gas based appliances and heating equipment 4% below 2015 levels by 2025 and 22% below 2015 levels by 2030.

A critical element of efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the utilities websites state, includes increased use of recovered methane from dairy and livestock farms, wastewater, landfills, food production facilities, organic waste management operations and coal mines to produce renewable natural gas.

“Renewable natural gas is typically cleaner than traditional natural gas resources taken from deep beneath the ground. It’s got less carbon emission,” Colorado Springs Utilities spokesman Steve Berry said Monday. “The idea is if we can keep some of the methane from burning in the atmosphere and put it into the pipeline, one, it reduces emissions that would otherwise be charged into the atmosphere; and two, it helps utilities and energy providers bring down the amount of greenhouse gases they produce from their electric generation.”

Adding renewable natural gas resources to their portfolios will help Colorado Springs Utilities, Atmos Energy, Black Hills Energy and Xcel Energy further diversify its energy resources, Berry and Henley said. 

It will also help the utilities reduce the carbon footprint without requiring customers to replace heating systems or other appliances, states a joint news release issued Monday.

“It’s very critical that we continue to diversify our energy mix so that when the regulations become so stringent that we can’t even burn natural gas there are acceptable alternative forms that are considered more renewable,” Berry said. “That’s where things like this come from, in addition to more traditional forms of renewable energy like wind and solar.”

Other states like California and Oregon are also participating in renewable natural gas generation and utilization, and “the pool of potential buyers” could expand as Colorado and other states implement more stringent air quality regulations and emissions standards, Berry said.

“We’re in this competition now here in Colorado for that (renewable natural gas) resource. That’s why it makes sense for us as Colorado utilities to collaborate on this,” he said.

How to submit a response

Colorado Springs Utilities, Atmos Energy Corporation, Black Hills Energy and Xcel Energy-Colorado have opened the request for information to developers, marketers and others who can provide renewable natural gas to Colorado utilities.

Interested parties must indicate their participation by July 28 and must submit responses by July 31 with information on renewable natural gas for sale from facilities currently in operation, projects under development or future ventures, the news release states. 

The renewable natural gas must be generated within Colorado and must meet the state’s recovered methane requirements for clean heat plans, according to the release.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission or other governing bodies will give final approval of all projects. All agreements will be contingent on final project approval, the release states.

The request for information, estimated schedules and more information is available on each of the utilities’ websites:

Atmos Energy: atmosenergy.com/ColoradoRNGRFI

Black Hills Colorado Gas: blackhillsenergy.com/services/natural-gas-services/renewable-natural-gas/renewable-natural-gas-request-information

Colorado Springs Utilities: csu.org/Pages/RFIRecoveredMethaneSupply.aspx

Xcel Energy–Colorado: my.xcelenergy.com/s/renewable/developers/2023rmr