Florida Commission Approves Peoples Gas System Demand Side Management Plan

The Florida Public Service Commission on Feb. 4 approved the demand-side management plan of Peoples Gas System to incentivize residential and commercial customers to reduce gas consumption and utilize energy-efficient technology. The plan is designed to meet the utility’s cumulative savings goal of 8.0 million therms for the 2025-2034 period and is estimated to cost around $194 million over the 10-year period.

The commission approved the utility’s 10-year savings goal of 8 million therms in July 2024, which represents an almost 30 percent increase from the company’s previous target of 6.2 million therms. The commission will review the energy conservation goals every five years. Peoples Gas petitioned for approval of the new demand-side plan in October 2024.

The plan includes a total of 11 programs, with seven targeting commercial or industrial customers and four designed for residential customers. The majority of the new programs modify some of the utility’s existing demand-side programs and include updates to program rebates and steps to improve participation rates. The increase in monthly bills for residential customers will decrease from $1.19 for 13 therms in 2025 to 0.86 for 13 therms in 2034.

Demand-side programs are useful tools in long-term gas planning for utilities to address the ever-increasing demand for natural gas. Natural gas consumption in the U.S. grew by one percent to reach a new annual high of 89.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2023, with the industrial sector contributing heavily to the demand.

Some examples of demand-side initiatives include energy audits for customers and financial incentives such as rebates to use newer, energy-efficient technology. High energy-consuming appliances such as clothes dryers, industrial ovens, and fryers are eligible for rebates.

Peoples Gas intends to recover the cost of implementing demand-side programs through the Natural Gas Conservation Cost Recovery clause. To receive approval for recovery costs, the utility must provide evidence that program expenses are reasonable.