NERC Issues Warning Over Winter Gas Supplies

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NERC issued a warning about the adequacy of winter gas supplies should extreme conditions occur during the 2024-2025 winter season.  Nearly 2 years after Winter Storm Elliott forced the largest manual load shed ever recorded in the history of the Eastern interconnection, NERC remains highly concerned.

Why NERC is Concerned About Winter Gas Supplies

NERC said that Winter Storm Elliott was the fifth event in the past 13 years where gas supply disruptions played a role in cold weather-related generation outages that reduced the reliability of the bulk power system.  Add to that the expectation from some meteorologists of a colder than average winter, and what you’re left with is legitimate cause for concern.

The simple truth is that the electric system increasingly relies on natural gas fuel and infrastructure.  In the case of Eliott specifically, gas fuel issues accounted for approximately 20% of the unplanned outages.

The good news is that utilities in both sectors are better prepared than they were 2 years ago.  Grid operators across the U.S. have been taking steps to improve planning processes, winterize infrastructure, and enhance market mechanisms, and gas operators have been working to weatherize pipelines, wellheads, and related infrastructure.  Here are a few examples:

• Midcontinent ISO (MISO): Conducts annual winter readiness surveys for utilities operating within its service territory which consists of 15 central U.S. states and the province of Manitoba in Canada.
• ISO New England: Working on improving the reliability of gas-electric coordination with MISO and the PJM Interconnection.
• Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT): Conducts regular winterization inspections of transmission and generating facilities across the state.

In the final analysis, it’s clear that many of the lessons learned from Winter Storm Elliott have been heeded and acted upon.  Unfortunately, despite this improvement, the adequacy of winter gas supplies remains a risk for both the electric and gas sectors.