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PG&E reports lower super‑emitter threshold, expanded coverage and faster repairs to cut distribution emissions
Summary
PG&E described updates to its super‑emitter detection program: lowering the threshold from 10 to 5 standard cubic feet per hour, expanding survey coverage, and planning more frequent surveys in high‑leak areas to reduce days‑open and emissions.
PG&E staff updated workshop attendees on the utility’s super‑emitter program, which uses vehicle‑mounted methane analyzers (Picarro) to detect large distribution leaks and prioritize faster repairs.
PG&E engineer Sami Ahmed said the program is based on research showing that a small fraction of distribution leaks (so‑called “super emitters”) account for a disproportionate share of distribution emissions. PG&E has lowered the detection threshold over several years — from 10 scfh in 2022 to 7 scfh in 2023, 6 scfh in 2024 and to 5 scfh in 2025 — and intends to remain at a 5‑scfh threshold because lower thresholds become less cost‑effective without very large increases in repair volume.
Ahmed said lowering the threshold increased the number of leaks designated as super emitters and thereby reduced the average emission factor for non‑super‑emitter leaks. The utility has also increased geographic coverage of the super‑emitter survey to reduce the number of “unknowns” and to better exclude the presence of undetected large leaks when calculating system emission factors.
PG&E reported that, at the 5‑scfh threshold, the program observed a set of emission factors and calculated a standard cost‑effectiveness in a sample analysis of roughly $24 per MCF for leaks that would otherwise have remained open through the compliance survey cycle. The company said it plans to increase targeted survey frequency in high‑leak‑density areas (about 20% of the system was responsible for 43% of emissions) and aim for roughly 1.25 surveys per year in those locations starting in 2027.
PG&E and workshop participants also discussed accuracy and validation: PG&E conducts annual validation testing of its Picarro platform and post‑processing to estimate leak size from indications; survey results are then validated in the field by local crews. PG&E representatives and others said the approach trades exactness for broad coverage and that averaging across many indications yields stable emission factors for program reporting.
