Prospects for Gas Pipelines in the Era of Clean Energy

RMI research indicates that clean energy portfolios are now cost-competitive with new natural gas power plants. Consequently, over $70 billion in planned gas-fired power plant construction and $30 billion in new interstate pipelines face significant stranded cost risks, as these assets may become uneconomic by 2035 and lead to increased gas delivery costs.

• Clean energy portfolios (CEPs) consisting of wind, solar, and energy storage are now cost-competitive with new natural gas power plants and can provide equivalent grid reliability services.
• Of the more than $70 billion planned for new gas-fired power plant construction through 2025, 90% of the proposed capacity is more expensive than equivalent CEPs. These plants risk becoming uneconomic to operate by 2035, potentially locking in 100 million tons of annual CO2 emissions and creating stranded cost risks.
• Planned investments of $30 billion in new interstate pipelines through 2024 face declining utilization as the economic case for gas power plants weakens. This drop in utilization is projected to increase the average cost of delivered gas by 30%–140% relative to expected levels.

APA

RMI (2019). Prospects for Gas Pipelines in the Era of Clean Energy. https://rmi.org/resources/prospects-for-gas-pipelines-in-the-era-of-clean-energy/

Chicago

RMI. Prospects for Gas Pipelines in the Era of Clean Energy. 2019. https://rmi.org/resources/prospects-for-gas-pipelines-in-the-era-of-clean-energy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Prospects for Gas Pipelines in the Era of Clean Energy |date=7 March 2019 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/prospects-for-gas-pipelines-in-the-era-of-clean-energy/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2019prospects, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Prospects for Gas Pipelines in the Era of Clean Energy}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2019}, month = mar, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/prospects-for-gas-pipelines-in-the-era-of-clean-energy/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }