September 11, 2018 – Washington Examiner
When bad weather has struck, natural gas has been completely reliable
By Dave McCurdy, Mike Sommers, Barry Russell, Don Santa, and Dena Wiggins
Last year, the United States experienced a series of catastrophic weather events that challenged the durability and resilience of regional power grids. These put to the test the different energy sources we rely on to power American homes and businesses.
Read the full article here: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/when-bad-weather-has-struck-natural-gas-has-been-completely-reliable
A review of performance in Florida, the Gulf Coast and northeastern states during and after these three weather events was recently published by analytics expert RBN Energy, on behalf of the Natural Gas Council. RBN found that natural gas convincingly and consistently rose to the challenge of each event. In fact, the system performed remarkably.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration continues to hunt for evidence to the contrary. This is part of an effort to justify subsidizing uneconomic coal and nuclear power plants. But RBN’s research supports the testimony of regional grid operator PJM, which has repeatedly stated that its power system remains reliable as it increasingly transitions its base of power generation to natural gas.
RBN’s report points out that natural gas is safely, efficiently and affordably transported through underground pipelines, which are typically unaffected by flooding, winds or deep snow. It also makes clear that contrary to the administration’s proposal, both coal and nuclear have resilience risks. Coal is trucked or hauled by rail, leaving it vulnerable to weather-related closing of roads and railways. On-site coal piles are vulnerable to flooding and freezing. Nuclear generators often shut down during extreme weather. In fact Florida’s nuclear facilities were pre-emptively shut down before Hurricane Irma arrived, as a necessary precaution against a possible leak of fissile material or a reactor meltdown.
