Moody’s began publishing discrete ESG scores in January 2021. PUF spoke with the Moody’s team responsible for the coverage of regulated and unregulated utilities, midstream energy, public power, and power project financings, in both the U.S. and Canada.

“Some of those goals include delivering 60% renewable or zero-carbon energy to California electric consumers by 2030 at SDG&E and delivering 20% RNG to core customers by 2030 at SoCalGas.”

“We’re developing a green hydrogen project, and it’s part of that long-duration energy storage pilot. We’ll install hydrogen storage containers that will help support over ten hours of energy storage for a fuel cell.”

“Over eighty percent of our customers want us to be pursuing renewable natural gas, to be working on solutions that balance affordability and our climate objectives.”

“We’re going to have to tailor solutions and blend them in a way that’s going to meet the needs of communities, make sure our customers are not left behind, and we have equitable outcomes.”

“Carbon neutrality is another way we’ve set ourselves apart. A couple of years ago when we set the goal to become carbon neutral by 2030 in our operations, we were the first to set such an early date for full neutrality.”

“A bipartisan Natural Gas Innovation Act we supported was ultimately passed. That provided a framework for the Minnesota PUC to address innovations in natural gas service, like RNG, carbon sequestration, hydrogen, and whatever technology comes next.”

How do today’s natural gas utilities find the right balance, rigorously addressing ESG priorities while continuing to meet the needs of the communities they serve via gas utility service? In the conversations below, leaders from CenterPoint Energy, Eversource, NiSource, NW Natural, and Sempra Energy (both at San Diego Gas & Electric and at the parent) take on directly how they are managing that balance.

“ESG impacts everything: the way companies trade, the way they are growing, and their M&A strategy, as well as how shareholder activists are screening companies and sectors.”

“Our nuclear plants in Minnesota are an important part of our overall strategy. We are building some natural gas to maintain reliability, as we retire most of the coal plants in our generation fleet.”