Aliso Canyon Can Now Increase Its Gas Storage

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Why it matters: The Aliso Canyon storage site is above Porter Ranch and is the facility that released methane and other dangerous air pollutants, such as carcinogen benzene, in 2015. It is considered the nation's worst methane leak and forced thousands of people to evacuate. Since then, the site has kept its fuel capacity at around 50%.

However, the expansion vote by the California Public Utilities Commission now increases Aliso Canyon's storage capacity to more than 68 billion cubic feet of gas underground, or at about 80% full.

Why now: The commissioners cited high gas prices last winter and immediate energy needs of community members when casting their votes.

"Climate change is bringing many unpredictable and extreme weather events,” said commission president Alice Reynolds. “This decision will help us be more resilient to those impacts."

But some residents and advocates have disputed the claim that limited storage led to high gas prices last winter. "We had a couple of winters where Aliso was unavailable and natural gas prices were much lower" said Jamie Court with Consumer Watchdog. "Demand wasn't any higher."

The backstory: The 2015 methane leak released methane and other dangerous air pollutants over parts of Porter Ranch and surrounding neighborhoods. Residents who live near Aliso Canyon say they’ve been experiencing the effects of chemicals from the gas storage field and have blamed the leak for health issues they say range from nosebleeds to headaches.

Since then, a growing chorus of voices, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, have called for the natural gas storage facility to be permanently shut down.