CAISO

The most significant operating expense for energy pipelines is the power needed for pumps and compressors. So, when gas and power prices surge as a result of inclement weather, it can be costly for pipelines. To address that risk, many midstream companies have enrolled in demand-response programs with power providers, where they agree to temporarily cut back some assets. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss the strategies that pipelines are using to boost their operations and lower costs.

The intermittent nature of renewable energy is a well-documented thorn in the side of efforts to decarbonize the power grid, especially with more wind and solar generation coming online every year. But while those sources of clean energy are not available all the time, it’s also true that they can sometimes produce more power than transmission lines or a power grid can handle during other periods, leading to curtailments. An increasingly important tool that can lessen the impact of both problems is power storage. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll address the limitations of today’s storage options and look at how long-duration energy storage (LDES) could play a critical role in the years ahead.

The uncertainties around solar power are well understood — when the sun doesn’t shine as much as expected, power grids that rely heavily on that generation must turn elsewhere to meet consumer demand. And while a shortfall in solar generation can be challenging to navigate, the difference between actual and forecast levels is typically only a few percentage points and power grids are usually ready and able to make up any difference. But what happens when the sun is largely obscured by the moon for several hours across a wide swath of the country? In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss the impact of the October 14 partial eclipse, preview the path of the April 8 total eclipse, and outline the steps being taken to ensure that power grids are ready for it. 

Despite some recent rain and snow, California continues to experience a historic drought that will further reduce the state’s hydroelectric output and again increase demand for natural gas for power generation. But the drought is only part of the story. California needs to replace the megawatts once provided by the now-shuttered San Onofre nuclear station, and specifically needs flexible gas-fired capacity to back up the intermittent production from the state’s new solar facilities and wind farms. The resulting gas shortages have led to generators being exposed to massive swings in gas prices this winter and facing higher prices this summer. Today we examine the growing connection between gas use and rain, snow, sun and wind in the Golden State.

With the electric power sector in many other states turning to natural gas-fired generation to replace retired coal and nuclear capacity, gas interests were understandably optimistic the same would happen in California when the plan to retire the 2,200-MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) was announced in June. But California’s aggressive efforts to promote renewable energy and combined heat and power (CHP), improve energy efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions make it likely utilities and independent power companies there will use less natural gas going forward—not more. Today in the second part of our of series on California gas demand we examine why gas use by large-scale power plants in the Golden State is likely to decline, why CHP-related gas use by commercial and industrial firms will rise, and why the state’s gas pipeline infrastructure may need beefing up.

Early in 2012, soon after Japan’s Fukushima disaster, two California nuclear power plants called SONGS 2 and SONGS 3 (stands for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station) shut down for the foreseeable future.  This pulled roughly 2,200 MW of base load generation out of the Southern California supply stack. The California System Operator (CAISO) scrambled for several weeks to bring replacement power into the system, and succeeded admirably.  The grid held together and weathered last year’s hot summer.  Now as the summer of 2013 starts to come into focus, there are lots of questions about the SONGS units –which are still off line – and what California’s overall power generation load will mean for natural gas demand and prices.  Today we survey the measures that made things work last year and examine the most likely market developments expected for Summer 2013.