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The Philadelphia Gas Plant is getting $125 million in federal funding to replace 106 miles of aging cast iron pipe.
Federal officials announced Tuesday the latest round of funding for the PGW Operations Center in Northeast Philadelphia: $40 million. The municipal gas company has already secured $85 million in grants to speed up pipe replacement.
“We’re tackling the climate crisis while lowering costs for families and creating union jobs,” said Ali Zaidi, President Biden’s national climate advisor.
Old pipes can crack and leak methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.
Gas leaks are also dangerous. In 2019, a leak in a more than 90-year-old gas main caused an explosion that destroyed five South Philadelphia rowhouses and killed two people. A few years ago, a PGW worker was killed while trying to repair a break in a high-pressure gas main in the Tacony section of Philadelphia.
PGW said in a 2022 filing with state utility regulators that more than half of its more than 3,000 miles of gas mains are considered “at risk,” or cast iron or unprotected steel mains. Said to be made of. In a typical year, PGW replaces approximately 30 miles of cast iron mains.
Federal grants will help utilities quickly fund existing pipe replacement projects, which the utility estimates will save the typical Philadelphia household hundreds of dollars over the next few years. are. Projects will be concentrated in areas with the highest poverty rates, the company said.
“We can save our customers money, because if we can replace that pipe with dollars from the federal government instead of out of ratepayers’ pockets,” said Seth Shapiro, president and CEO of PGW. Because it helps.”
This funding comes from the Natural Gas Delivery System Modernization Grant Program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2021. Tristan Brown, deputy commissioner of the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said Philadelphia received the largest amount under the program and the highest amount ever in the nation.
“Congress … directed us to focus on underserved communities, the highest-risk pipes, and the greatest reductions in methane leaks,” he said. “Philly really fits into each of those categories.”
