SASB Gas Utilities & Distributors

1. Download the Standard: Access the SASB Gas Utilities & Distributors standard for free from the SASB website (sasb.org). The standard is identified by the code IF-GU and covers all relevant disclosure topics and accounting metrics for the sector.

1. Use the SASB Navigator: Explore the free online SASB Navigator tool to identify the specific disclosure topics and accounting metrics applicable to your organization's activities within gas utilities and distribution.

1. Conduct a Materiality Assessment: Review the standard's defined material topics — including GHG emissions, pipeline safety, energy efficiency, and workforce health & safety — and assess which are most relevant to your company's operations and investor base.

1. Assign Internal Ownership: Designate cross-functional owners for each disclosure topic (e.g., EHS team for pipeline safety, finance for energy efficiency metrics, HR for workforce safety data).

1. Collect and Validate Data: Gather quantitative and qualitative data aligned with the SASB accounting metrics. Ensure data collection processes are documented and defensible, as institutional investors may scrutinize reported figures.

1. Draft Disclosures: Integrate SASB-aligned disclosures into your annual report, sustainability report, or SEC filings (e.g., 10-K). Use the standard's prescribed units of measure and disclosure formats.

1. Consider Third-Party Assurance: Optionally engage an independent assurance provider to verify the accuracy of your disclosed data, which can enhance credibility with investors and ESG rating agencies.

1. Monitor Standard Updates: Stay current with ISSB/IFRS Foundation updates, as SASB standards are being incorporated into the broader IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards framework. Update your disclosures accordingly each reporting cycle.

The SASB Gas Utilities & Distributors standard (IF-GU) organizes disclosure requirements into five primary topic areas, each with specific accounting metrics and activity metrics.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions & Energy Resource Planning covers Scope 1 GHG emissions (in metric tons CO₂-e), percentage of methane and other GHGs, and discussion of long-term strategies for managing GHG emissions. Companies must also disclose the amount of electric power delivered and the percentage from renewable sources.

Air Quality addresses emissions of NOₓ (excluding N₂O), SOₓ, and other air pollutants, reported in metric tons. This topic captures the local air quality impact of gas combustion and distribution operations beyond just climate-relevant gases.

Energy Efficiency requires disclosure of customer gas savings from efficiency measures, the percentage of gas utility revenues from rate structures that decouple revenues from volumetric sales, and the number of customers served by smart meters.

Pipeline Safety Management is a critical topic for distributors, covering the number and description of reportable pipeline incidents, the integrity of pipeline infrastructure (percentage of distribution pipeline that is cast iron or unprotected steel), and capital expenditures on pipeline safety.

Workforce Health & Safety tracks the total recordable incident rate (TRIR), fatality rate, and near-miss frequency rate for employees and contractors. This reflects the inherently hazardous nature of gas distribution work.

Activity metrics — such as the number of: (1) gas customers served, (2) miles of pipeline, and (3) therms of gas delivered — provide context for normalizing performance data across companies of different sizes.

SASB standards have become a foundational layer of the global ESG disclosure ecosystem. As of the early 2020s, thousands of companies across 77 industries reference SASB standards in their sustainability or annual reports, with adoption particularly strong among publicly traded companies in North America and growing rapidly in Europe and Asia-Pacific. In the energy sector, gas utilities and pipeline companies were among the earlier adopters, driven by investor pressure from large asset managers like BlackRock and Vanguard who explicitly requested SASB-aligned disclosures.

The 2022 merger of SASB into the IFRS Foundation — and the subsequent creation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) — significantly elevated the standard's global profile. ISSB's IFRS S1 and S2 standards explicitly incorporate SASB industry-specific metrics as the basis for industry-specific disclosure requirements, effectively making SASB the de facto global baseline for sector-level ESG reporting. This integration has accelerated adoption internationally, particularly in jurisdictions aligning with IFRS reporting frameworks.

In the gas utilities sector specifically, SASB competes with GRI Standards (which are more process-oriented and widely used by non-listed companies), CDP's climate disclosure platform, and the Edison Electric Institute's ESG template. However, SASB's financial materiality focus and investor-facing orientation give it a distinct positioning that resonates with capital markets. Demand for SASB-aligned reporting is expected to grow as regulators in the US (SEC climate disclosure rules) and EU (CSRD) push for more standardized, comparable sustainability data — though the evolving regulatory landscape means companies may need to layer multiple frameworks.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board was founded in 2011 by Jean Rogers in San Francisco, with a mission to develop industry-specific sustainability accounting standards that help businesses disclose financially material ESG information to investors. Modeled loosely on the financial accounting standards-setting process (akin to FASB for sustainability), SASB conducted extensive multi-stakeholder consultations — involving companies, investors, and subject matter experts — to develop standards for each of its 77 industry classifications. The Gas Utilities & Distributors standard (IF-GU) was among the first cohort of standards provisionally released and was formally published as part of the complete SASB Standards suite in November 2018.

A pivotal milestone came in 2022 when SASB merged with the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF, which also housed the Integrated Reporting Framework) and was subsequently consolidated into the IFRS Foundation. This led to the creation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), which adopted SASB's industry-specific metrics as the foundation for its own standards. IFRS S1 (General Requirements) and IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures), published in June 2023, explicitly reference SASB industry guidance, cementing the Gas Utilities & Distributors standard's role in the emerging global baseline for sustainability reporting.