Appendix D — Utility service area maps

To identify the utilities operating within our 11-county study area, we utilized data sets published by state and federal sources. The outcome of our data collection yields a list of distinct utilities suplying activity data and resides within distinct_natGas_util_WI.RDS (4 utilities, all investor-owned) and distinct_natGas_util_type_MN.RDS (7 utilities, six investor-owned and one municipally-owned).

D.0.1 Minnesota

Since there is no state-maintained map of natural gas service territories in Minnesota (Minnesota IT Services 2021), we looked to the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD) database, a product of the Department of Homeland Security’s Geospatial Management Office (DHS GMO) that compiles “foundation-level geospatial data” for homeland security, homeland defense, and emergency preparedness purposes. This dataset was last updated in 2017 (Homeland Security 2017). Though this dataset is national in scope (see Figure D.1), it is clipped to only include utility service areas within the nine Minnesota counties included in the study area of this inventory (see Figure D.2). Note that utilities operating across county lines have a polygon covering the extent of their service territory within each and every county they operate within.

Figure D.1: Nationwide utility service service territories

Figure D.2: Minnesota utility service service territories in scope

D.0.2 Wisconsin

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin publishes and maintains maps of service territories for natural gas utilities operating within the state. This data set relies upon, and is accurate to, “the extent that various sources [utilities] supplied accurate data.” (Public Service Commission of Wisconsin 2021). This dataset spans the whole state of Wisconsin (see Figure D.3), but was clipped to the two Wisconsin counties included in the study area of this inventory (see Figure D.4).

Figure D.3: Wisconsin utility service service territories

Wisconsin utilities in scope

Figure D.4: Wisconsin utility service service territories in scope

Homeland Security, Department of. 2017. “Natural Gas Service Territories - Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data.” https://hifld-geoplatform.opendata.arcgis.com/maps/natural-gas-service-territories.

Minnesota IT Services. 2021. “Public Utilities Infrastructure Information for Minnesota.” 2021. https://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/chouse/utilities.html.

Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. 2021. “PSC Interactive Service Area Maps.” https://psc.wi.gov/Pages/ForConsumers/Maps.aspx.