# Contents of a Gas Infrastructure Plan

**Citation:** 4 CCR 723-4 Rule 4553  
**Type / status:** regulation / current  
**Agency:** Colorado Public Utilities Commission  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** Not stated

(a) General. (I) The utility shall describe in each gas infrastructure plan the methodology, criteria, and assumptions used to develop the gas infrastructure plan. The utility shall specifically describe its system planning and infrastructure modeling process including the assumptions and variables 

## Document text

(a) General.
(I) The utility shall describe in each gas infrastructure plan the methodology,
criteria, and assumptions used to develop the gas infrastructure plan. The

utility shall specifically describe its system planning and infrastructure
modeling process including the assumptions and variables that are inputs
into the process.
(II) The utility shall describe its budget planning processes and the expected
level of accuracy in its cost projections.
(III) The utility shall categorize planned projects, or explain any deviation of
project categorization, based on the categories set forth below. A planned
project may be included in more than one category or subcategory. The
utility shall also explain the inter-relationship of planned projects, to the
extent applicable.
(A) “System safety and integrity projects” shall include but are not
limited to pipeline and storage integrity management programs;
exposed pipe inspection and remediation; pipe or compressor
station upgrades; projects undertaken to meet U.S. Department of
Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration requirements; and Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition (SCADA) upgrades.
(B) “New business projects” shall include utility investment and
spending needed to provide gas service to new customers or
customers requiring new gas service.
(C) “Capacity expansion projects” shall include both individual projects
and sets of inter-related facilities needed to maintain system
reliability and meet a specified capacity expansion need. Within the
category of capacity expansion projects, the utility shall further
separate appropriate projects into the following sub-categories:
(i) capacity expansion projects needed for reliability or growth
in sales by existing customers, structures, and facilities; and
(ii) capacity expansion projects needed for growth in sales due
to new customers, structures, and facilities, that are not
otherwise new business planned projects.
(D) “Mandatory relocation projects” as defined in paragraph 4001(gg).
(E) “Defined programmatic expenses” as defined in paragraph 4551(b),
means the following, or as otherwise ordered by the Commission:
(i) “relocation or replacement of meters” shall include the
utility’s investment and expenditure to replace or relocate
customer meters, including at-risk meters, not otherwise
covered by other projects; and

(ii) “replacement of customer-owned yard lines” shall include the
investment and expenditure to replace customer-owned yard
lines and associated infrastructure with utility-owned
pipelines and associated infrastructure.
(IV) The utility shall provide, for each year of the gas infrastructure plan total
period, and for each project category defined above in subparagraph
4553(a)(III), the following information:
(A) the total number of projects; and
(B) the total annual capital investment.
(V) The utility shall provide one or more maps indicating locations of individual
planned projects, pressure district or geographic area served by the
individual planned projects or that would otherwise lead to a foreseeable
lack of system reliability, if applicable, and other distinct zones identified
for planning purposes in the utility’s most recently approved clean heat
plan pursuant to subparagraph 4731(a)(I)(B) with sufficient geographical
detail such that the Commission can evaluate and fully comprehend the
extent and purpose of the overall gas infrastructure plan. The utility shall
also indicate whether the planned projects are located within
disproportionately impacted communities.
(VI) The utility shall provide a copy of its prior year’s United States Department
of Transportation Gas Distribution Annual Report, Form F7100.
(VII) The utility shall provide a summary of stakeholder participation and input
and explain how this input was incorporated into the gas infrastructure
plan. For each recommendation received by the utility prior to filing its
plan, a utility shall summarize the recommendation and respond to it. If a
project or projects are located in a disproportionately impacted community,
the utility shall further provide a description of outreach to members of that
community, including a description of the nature of the outreach as
appropriate to the filing, including descriptions of communications and
materials, and findings from those efforts. The utility shall also provide a
summary of the public workshops on alternatives analyses as required by
subparagraph 4552(d)(IV).
(VIII) The utility shall provide project-level information consistent with the
requirements in paragraph 4553(c) for all projects with an expected
construction start date during the gas infrastructure plan action period and
the gas infrastructure plan informational period, where available. For
planned projects in the gas infrastructure plan informational period where
project-level information is not available, category-level specificity
consistent with subparagraph 4553(a)(III) is acceptable.

(IX) The utility shall provide the then-current peak design temperature
assigned to unique segments of the utility system used for capacity
planning, and data to support such design temperature(s).
(b) Forecast requirements.
(I) The utility shall present reference, low, and high forecasts of design peak
demand, customer count, sales and capacity requirements, gas content
including expected mixtures by volume of hydrogen and recovered
methane, and system-wide greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with the
utility’s approved portfolio of clean heat resources and in accordance with
subparagraph 4731(b)(I), or any appropriate interim-year update to such
forecasts in accordance with subparagraph 4733(a)(VI).
(II) If a utility filed a small utility clean heat plan in accordance with rule 4734,
the utility shall justify and document the data, assumptions, models, and
other inputs upon which it relied to develop this gas infrastructure plan. A
utility filing under this rule shall indicate how its forecast incorporates, to
the extent practicable, relevant external factors including, but not limited
to:
(A) the effect of current or enacted state and local building codes;
(B) changes in the utility’s line extension policies, and the associated
impact on gas customer growth;
(C) building electrification programs or incentives offered by the local
electric utility or local or federal entities that overlap with the utility’s
gas service territory; and
(D) the price elasticity of demand (e.g., the impact of reduced
throughput and rate increases on sales and peak demand
requirements and impacts of commodity prices).
(c) Planned project information.
(I) The utility shall present the following project-specific information for all
planned projects in the gas infrastructure plan total period, with
information provided to the extent practicable for projects in the gas
infrastructure plan informational period:
(A) project name;
(B) project category, consistent with the categories defined in
subparagraph 4553(a)(III), or otherwise identified and justified by
the utility;

(C) general scope of work and explanation of need for the project,
including any applicable U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration code
requirements for the project;
(D) projected life of the project;
(E) if the project is presented as a gas infrastructure plan action period
project or a gas infrastructure plan informational period project;
(F) anticipated construction start date, construction period, with any
phases indicated, and expected in-service date;
(G) the cost estimate classification using the utility’s or an industry-
accepted cost estimate classification index, and support of the
methodology;
(H) project technical details, such as physical equipment characteristics
of proposed facilities, pipeline length, pipeline diameter, project
material(s), and maximum allowable operating pressure;
(I) total project cost estimate and a presentation of the associated
annual revenue requirements for the project during the gas
infrastructure plan total period, assuming both conventional
depreciation and accelerated depreciation in accordance with the
forecasts submitted or developed pursuant to paragraph 4553(b);
(J) the project location and an illustrative map of the facilities (subject
to necessary and appropriate confidentiality provisions) including:
(i) the pressure district or geographic area that requires the
proposed facilities;
(ii) the existing and proposed regulator stations and existing and
proposed distribution piping and higher capacity pipelines
served by or representing the proposed facilities;
(iii) the locations of any disproportionately impacted community;
(iv) identification of the electric utility service provider(s) at that
location; and
(v) any other information necessary to allow the Commission to
make a thorough evaluation.
(K) to the extent practicable, the number of customers, annual sales,
and design peak demand requirements, by customer class, directly
impacted or served by the project;

(L) permit(s) required to begin work, if any;
(M) environmental requirements associated with completion of project,
if any;
(N) the change in projected greenhouse gas emissions due to the
planned project;
(O) the status of the planned projects as addressed in previous plans,
as well as changes, additions or deletions in the current plan when
compared with prior plans; and
(P) for a quantity of new business and capacity expansion projects,
given the criteria established by the Commission in accordance
with subparagraph 4552(b)(I)(A) through (C), the utility shall
present an analysis of alternatives, including non-pipeline
alternatives, costs for those alternatives, and criteria used to rank
or eliminate such alternatives.
(i) An analysis of alternatives shall consider, at a minimum:
(1) one or more applicable clean heat resources
consistent with the utility’s most recently approved
clean heat plan, pursuant to rule 4732, demand side
management plan, pursuant to rule 4753, or beneficial
electrification plan, as applicable;

(2) a cost-benefit analysis including the costs of direct
investment and the social costs of carbon and
methane for emissions due to or avoided by the
alternative, and other costs determined appropriate by
the Commission; and
(3) available Best Value Employment metrics associated
with each alternative, as defined in paragraph
4211(a), including a projection of gas distribution jobs
affected by the alternative and jobs made available
through the alternative, opportunities to transition any
affected gas distribution jobs to the alternative, pay
and benefit levels of the affected gas distribution jobs
and the jobs available through a transition
opportunity, and how employment impacts associated
with each alternative could affect disproportionately
impacted communities.
(ii) An analysis of alternatives shall include, at a minimum:
(1) the technologies or approaches evaluated;
(2) the technologies or approaches proposed, if
applicable;
(3) the projected timeline and annual implementation rate
for the technology or approaches evaluated;
(4) the technical feasibility of the alternative assuming full
adoption of the technologies and approaches
evaluated;
(5) the utility’s strategy to facilitate the technologies or
approaches evaluated; and
(6) an explanation of the methodology used to select
which projects are presented with an alternative
analysis, including discussion of the public review
process required pursuant to subparagraph
4552(d)(IV).

(Q) For new business and capacity expansion projects, a utility shall
provide an alternative analysis as set forth in subparagraph (c)(I)(P)
above or justify why the new business and capacity expansion
project is not suitable for an alternative analysis for which the utility
seeks a certificate of public convenience and necessity or other
relief, in accordance with subparagraph 4552(d)(II).
(R) For system safety and integrity projects, the utility shall provide the
applicable federal regulation, the planned project’s risk ranking and
the utility’s risk ranking methodology including but not limited to the
material, age, maximum allowable operating pressure, density of
surrounding residences and businesses, and any other physical
and operating characteristics relevant to the risk ranking of the
planned project and the risk ranking methodology. The utility should
also identify, discuss in detail, and provide the output to any risk-
related models developed or employed by the utility in conducting
risk analyses to support planned system safety and integrity
projects or other projects.
(II) With respect to the reference, low and high forecasts conducted pursuant
to subparagraph 4553(b)(I):
(A) the total incremental investment that may be needed over the gas
infrastructure plan action period and gas infrastructure plan
informational period; and
(B) an identification of the primary individual new projects avoided in
the low design peak demand forecast and an identification of the
primary individual new projects and capital spend added in the high
design peak demand forecast.
(d) Existing infrastructure assessment reporting. The utility shall report on the
following in the gas infrastructure plan.
(I) The utility shall report the following information regarding customer-owned
yard lines attached to its distribution system, if applicable:
(A) an estimate of the number of customer-owned yard lines by
municipality served;
(B) the number of customer-owned yard lines replaced by the utility to
date and capital investment incurred to do so; and
(C) the estimated gross and net rate-based investment needed to
replace all customer-owned yard lines in present dollars through
year 2030, through year 2040, and through year 2050.

(II) The utility shall report the following information regarding hydrogen
compatibility throughout its distribution system, to the extent known:
(A) estimate the percentage of distribution system components known
to be compatible with safely carrying varying concentrations of
hydrogen, including but not limited to:
(i) piping;
(ii) fittings; and
(iii) non-pipe system components.
(B) The utility shall identify any areas of the system with unknown
materials or materials known to be not compatible with hydrogen
mixtures up to 20 percent by volume.
(III) The utility shall report the following information regarding advanced leak
detection:
(A) identification of equipment, survey method, percentage of system
surveyed in each year, and interval in which additional advanced
leak detection occurred on the same areas of the system;
(B) any updates to anticipated system-wide methane emissions based
on most recent advanced leak detection surveys; and
(C) extent to which leakage sources identified are within
disproportionately impacted communities.

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/DisplayRule.do?action=ruleinfo&ruleId=2260&deptID=18&agencyID=96&deptName=Department%20of%20Regulatory%20Agencies&agencyName=Public%20Utilities%20Commission&seriesNum=4%20CCR%20723-4>
- Source ID: `co-sos-ccr`
- SHA-256: `6d410c397a7092746ea00c3e381c17c2c64d8a44a99f5d0696a4d8587ccff186`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-12T04:36:48.096Z
- Exported: 2026-08-24T12:48:49.109Z
- Document slug: `co-ccr-4-723-4-4553`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "jurisdiction": "US-CO",
  "code": "4 CCR 723-4",
  "ruleKey": "4553",
  "pipelineScope": "colorado-jurisdictional-gas-utilities",
  "legalScope": "Current 4 CCR 723-4 rules regulating Colorado jurisdictional gas utilities and gas master-meter operators, including construction, operation, system safety, gas infrastructure planning, metering, service, and enforcement provisions. This is an adjacent gas-utility corpus, not a replacement for the repealed dedicated 4900-series pipeline-safety rules.",
  "applicabilityCaveat": "Part 4 applies according to Colorado Public Utilities Commission jurisdiction and each rule's scope. The former dedicated pipeline-safety rules 4900 through 4975 are reserved after repeal; this connector does not represent them as current. Part 4 does not replace federal pipeline-safety requirements, determine whether a facility is interstate or intrastate, or resolve operator-specific orders, waivers, tariffs, or later rulemaking.",
  "references": [],
  "ruleInfoUrl": "https://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/DisplayRule.do?action=ruleinfo&ruleId=2260&deptID=18&agencyID=96&deptName=Department%20of%20Regulatory%20Agencies&agencyName=Public%20Utilities%20Commission&seriesNum=4%20CCR%20723-4",
  "pucRulesUrl": "https://puc.colorado.gov/gasrulesandregulations",
  "ruleVersionId": "12549",
  "editionEffectiveOn": "2026-06-14",
  "publicationStatus": "The Colorado Secretary of State identifies the source as the official publication of state administrative rules. The edition date applies to the compiled rule version and is not represented as the effective date of every provision.",
  "rights": "Official state rule text is preserved with attribution and source links. Public accessibility does not imply rights in agency marks, third-party material, or incorporated standards; commercial redistribution requires review.",
  "region": "CO"
}
```