Creative problem solving is at the heart of innovation. It’s marked by an openness to think beyond what has been done and weigh the possibilities for what can be done going forward. It’s encouraged by approaching challenges—in operations, community growth, inspections and beyond—with fresh eyes. And it’s built on the contributions of every team member. 

“Good ideas come from all levels,” said Brad Kloeppel, senior director of natural gas operations and technical services for Ameren Illinois. “Quite often,” he added, “the best ideas come up through the organization, not from the top down.”

Solving a Storage Issue

Sometimes innovation is like a game of Tetris—a matter of combining existing assets in a new way that solves a problem while also establishing the best foundation for future success.

When Kloeppel was new to his role at Ameren Illinois, he visited the Glasford Natural Gas Storage Field and spoke with two operators there, Jeff Classen and Mike Carrol. During their conversation, Classen and Carrol pointed out that the field was only about 1,000 feet from the Panhandle pipeline. “They wondered if there was a way we could connect to it and use it to inject natural gas into our system instead of using the compressor, which was then 60 years old and in need of frequent maintenance,” Kloeppel said.

The approach could improve reliability while eliminating the need to purchase a replacement compressor, which the utility estimated would save approximately $15 million.

Connecting to the Panhandle pipeline was not a new idea. “Knowing the proximity of the pipeline to our storage field, we have been discussing projects that could take advantage of that to improve affordability and reliability,” said Ameren’s Director of Gas Storage Tim Eggers. “A decade ago, we determined that the suggested modifications weren’t going to be possible from an operational standpoint. The idea was dormant for a while.” 

With the compressor near its end of life, Classen and Carrol recognized that it was an ideal time to revisit the benefits of a Panhandle connection. With decades of pipeline data now available, it became clear that compression could be removed from the equation without any negative impact. “Interstate pipelines don’t come with a pressure guarantee whenever you connect to them,” said Kloeppel. “Natural gas turbines require about 400 to 500 psi of delivery. Most interstate pipelines operate above that, but they don’t have to provide you with that guarantee. So, we looked at the history of this pipeline segment operating next to the storage field, and we became convinced that we could do this project and ultimately retire the compressors.”

It proved to be the perfect scenario. “You’ve got high pressure coming directly off an interstate pipeline, you freeflow your injections, and now you freeflow your withdrawals into your home transmission line,” Kloeppel explained. “There is no better setup.”

That setup promised customer affordability as well as improved reliability. “Customer affordability has been a major topic for us for three or four years now,” Kloeppel said, noting that Ameren actively encourages employee ideas to help reduce ongoing operation and maintenance costs.

Glasford is now the only Ameren-owned storage field that no longer requires compression—either for injection or, in some cases, to pull natural gas out in the winter. “It’s rare to have a pipeline that’s higher than the fuel pressure,” Eggers said. “We have one other field where that applies most of the time, so we have backup compression there. But our other 10 fields absolutely must have the compression horsepower to cycle.”

Given Glasford’s unusual situation, Eggers added, “It’s really noteworthy that our crews recognized the potential for this particular storage field.”

Encouraging Industrial Growth  

Both Duke Energy and Alliant Energy are actively pursuing site-related growth opportunities within their respective communities. But their approaches differ significantly due to their distinct corporate goals and the needs within their service areas.

Duke Energy’s Site Readiness program extends across hundreds of communities within the utility’s six-state service region. A five-person community-relations team leads local outreach, canvassing neighborhoods to discover new opportunities for community growth. If the team learns that a new industry is coming to the area, it will encourage early conversations that focus on natural gas needs, capacity in the area and the industry’s growth plans for the area, according to Jeremy Koster, Duke Energy’s vice president of sales and operations development. A major-accounts sales team follows up to nail down site specifics and costs.

This strategy has resulted in the development of hundreds of new sites. But Duke Energy is not stopping there. “We have just started using satellite imagery to help pinpoint site selection,” Koster said. “We can see where people are building neighborhoods and communities, where they started putting parcels of land together. If several landed recordations happened—and they’re all adjacent parcels—we try to find out what’s going on with that large piece of property. Rather than driving all over the territories, we’re able to gather some information quickly about what’s happening throughout our service areas with land in general.”

The utility also is exploring new ways to approach funding these major projects. For local communities, monies typically come either through private funding or from grants. But the grant application process can be complex, if not confusing, for those unaccustomed to the requirements. When needed, Duke Energy steps in as a mediator to help communities navigate the application process. The utility will also work to find sources to make up for funding shortfalls. “We recently helped a community secure an agriculture grant of up to $2.5 million,” Koster said. “We worked with a landowner to actually lower his price on the easement.” 

Alliant Energy is taking a different approach to site development. Over the last decade, the utility has been acquiring ownership of unused land throughout its service area with an eye to future growth. Typically, these are development-ready sites of at least 80 acres served by Alliant Energy electric and/or natural gas.

The utility’s first project like this is known as Big Cedar Industrial Center, which will house an approximately one-million-square-foot data-center campus on 612 acres. It will be the largest economic-development investment in the history of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“When we originally purchased [the land], we did not have a specific end user—or even a specific industry—in mind,” said Coleman Peiffer, senior manager of data-center services for Alliant Energy. “Data centers were not even on our radar. But over time, that industry has ramped up to what it is today, and it was recognized that a data center would be a good user for the site.” 

Campus construction is expected to bring hundreds of construction and trade jobs, and at least 30 high-tech full-time jobs once the campus is operational. The project is anticipated to come online by the end of 2028.

“This isn’t a conventional project for a utility,” Peiffer admitted. “But our leadership—including our CEO, Lisa Barton—isn’t afraid to dig in and work with customers on innovative solutions.”

Peiffer believes Alliant Energy will be developing more projects like this in the future. “We’re always looking at a variety of industries and how we can help serve them, and how we can improve Iowa’s positioning—or Wisconsin’s, where we have territory as well—into a great location to host those projects.”

Detailing Inspections

Site inspections may not sound like a prime area for innovation, built as they are on long-established processes and formalized feedback. But Southwest Gas has introduced a new approach to inspections that yields improved safety and reliability while enhancing the utility’s relationships with third-party contractors.

The difference comes down to details.

In the field, frontline inspectors overseeing the work done by contract crews do not usually note every single step or event that they see. For example, maybe a worker makes a mistake but then corrects it before moving on. Inspectors use their best judgment as to what needs to be documented and what does not.

But what if inspectors did document every detail? What kinds of improvements might result?

Those questions led to the Contractor Quality Inspection Program: a small, centralized inspection team operating independently of the management teams responsible for projects. The program has been active for at least a decade and supplements standard inspections. “We wanted these inspectors to have the freedom to produce very strict, rigid, inflexible inspection reports that document any deviation from any standard,” said Kevin Killam, manager, field operations, Southwest Gas. “CQIP inspectors observe and document anything of significance or note. They do not make judgments about what to document or not document. That means the results of their inspection records are, as much as is possible, a solid and unbiased barometer of the true, detailed compliance of all observed activities.” 

At any given time, there may be more than 100 contract crews working across the Southwest Gas service areas in Nevada, Arizona and California. The utility’s 12 CQIP inspectors are assigned at random from a database of active crews. Depending on the assignment, they may be on-site during construction or involved in post-construction inspection. While not every project undergoes a CQIP inspection, contract crews do not know when or if CQIP will be assigned, which the company believes has had benefits.

As an example of CQIP’s effectiveness, Killam pointed to the program’s role in damage prevention. “Because pipeline contractors are excavating around and working around natural gas pipelines, they get involved more frequently with damages to natural gas facilities,” he said. “Several years ago, we saw an unfavorable damage trend among our pipeline contractors. At that time, CQIP became involved in a partnership between Southwest Gas and our pipeline contractors to support improvement by our pipeline contractors.”

Over the next four years, the performance of pipeline contractors became safer and better each year—in large part due to the more detailed feedback CQIP observers provided.

As might be expected, there was some initial pushback. It took time—and experience—for contract crews to get accustomed to this level of detailed oversight. There was a learning curve for everyone involved.

“Are we going to hold our contractors accountable? You bet,” Killam said. “But we also are committed to being a resource to help them succeed. If they are working to succeed, they’ve got no better cheerleader.” In fact, he added, “We’ve found that some contractors appreciate knowing that their Southwest Gas work is held to a high—maybe higher than usual—standard.

“I’ve heard it from numerous contractor leaders: Southwest Gas makes them better.”