EPA’s Natural Gas STAR Methane Challenge Program
Southwest Gas is proud to be a founding partner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Natural Gas STAR Methane Challenge Program which launched in early 2016. Aligning with our commitment as an Energy Star Pollution Preventer, this program provides us the opportunity to reduce methane emissions using the Best Management Practice (BMP) Commitment. Our commitment, which focuses on the reduction of excavation damages, promotes the implementation of cost-effective technologies and practices through the year 2021.
In the first year of the Methane Challenge, 2017, we successfully ramped up our damage prevention efforts and strengthened our partnerships with third-party contractors and regional Common Ground Alliance groups. We were one of the first utility companies to support the National Excavator Initiative, a multifaceted, collaborative effort designed to increase awareness and help change the excavator behavior, and welcomed the new 811 hot air balloon into two of our areas within its flight path. The stop in Las Vegas, Nevada, on a busy workday morning reached at least 2,500 people, with another 1,500 interactions at a community event in Queen Creek, Arizona.
In the first year of the Methane Challenge, 2017, we successfully ramped up our damage prevention efforts and strengthened our partnerships with third-party contractors and regional Common Ground Alliance groups. We were one of the first utility companies to support the National Excavator Initiative, a multifaceted, collaborative effort designed to increase awareness and help change the excavator behavior, and welcomed the new 811 hot air balloon into two of our areas within its flight path. The stop in Las Vegas, Nevada, on a busy workday morning reached at least 2,500 people, with another 1,500 interactions at a community event in Queen Creek, Arizona.
Public Safety & Emissions
We take a proactive approach to managing and maintaining our pipeline systems and associated facilities. In many of our operational practices, we go above and beyond mandated pipeline safety requirements to ensure the safe and reliable delivery of natural gas to our customers. Our relatively new distribution piping system is free of any cast iron or bare steel pipelines within our service territories. Even so, we continue to enforce strict guidelines through our pipeline integrity management process to ensure optimal operations of our pipeline system.
