Gill Ranch Storage

Gill Ranch Storage utilizes depleted underground sandstone natural gas reservoirs for natural gas storage. The facility, located near Fresno, serves the wholesale gas market in California. Who are the owners of Gill Ranch? Gill Ranch Storage, LLC, and Pacific Gas and Electric, a California combined utility, each own a portion of the project, holding undivided interests in the facility. Gill Ranch Storage, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NW Natural, a Northwest local gas distribution company with operations in Oregon and Washington. The new subsidiary is separate from the utility and is dedicated exclusively to serving the California market. Gill Ranch Storage, LLC is the storage facility's operator. What kind of experience do the owners have with this type of project? NW Natural designed, built and has operated the 16 billion cubic feet (Bcf) Mist storage field in its Oregon service territory since 1989, and it serves primarily NW Natural's core utility customers. NW Natural has been using excess capacity and capacity built in advance of core customer needs in the interstate market since 2001 under the authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory commission. PG&E has been operating storage fields in California since 1958, when it established the McDonald Island storage facility. It now operates two other facilities at Pleasant Creek and Los Medanos. How much storage capacity does the facility offer? Gill Ranch Storage has about 20 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of storage capacity, with potential at the site to bring on additional capacity. Future development plans would depend on market interest. What infrastructure is associated with the facility? The site consists of the storage field (injection/withdrawal wells and associated gathering lines), compression and other gas handling facilities, and a 25-mile pipeline connecting the storage field to PG&E's gas transmission system at Line 401. Who does Gill Ranch Storage serve? All buyers and/or sellers of natural gas - producers, marketers and generators - can be served by Gill Ranch Storage. Who operates the facility? Gill Ranch Storage, LLC, which oversaw construction of the storage fields and the lateral pipeline connecting the storage fields to PG&E's transmission system, is the operator. Why does California need this facility? There is growing demand for natural gas storage in California and the facility adds 20 Bcf of storage capacity to help meet that need. Natural gas storage facilities benefit all gas customers by increasing supply security, which helps lower commodity costs.