Full Title: Air Quality and Health Impacts of Public Service’s Clean Heat Plan
Author(s): Kelsey Bilsback, Sofia Bisogno, and Eric Lebel
Publisher(s): PSE Healthy Energy
Publication Date: January 9, 2024
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Regulatory decision-making around residential and commercial energy use holds implications for the indoor and outdoor environment, climate, air quality, and public health. Gas appliances directly emit health-damaging air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and benzene, that have the potential to impact air quality indoors, particularly if they are vented inside (e.g., stoves, space heaters).
Public Service, a natural gas and electric utility company in Colorado, submitted its Clean Heat Plan to the Colorado Public Utility Commission (CPUC) in August 2023 in response to Senate Bill (SB) 21-264. This bill requires that gas distribution utilities submit a plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 4 percent by 2025 and 22 percent by 2030, relative to 2015 levels.
In this report, they examine the air quality, public health, and equity dimensions of Public Service’s Clean Heat Plan. Section 2 provides a brief overview of the scientific literature on residential gas appliances and their implications on indoor air quality and health. Section 3 analyzes the demographics of populations living within Public Service’s gas service territory and identify the health and environmental exposure disparities within the
territory. Section 4 compares the air quality and PM2.5 health impacts of Public Service’s Amended Preferred Portfolio and WRA’s Pollution-Free Buildings Portfolio. For each of the above sections, they outline the relevant methodologies used. Finally, Section 5 provides conclusions and recommendations.