National Grid releases report on long-term solutions for NY natural gas constraints
National Grid released its Long-term Natural Gas Capacity Report, a document that offers potential solutions to address long-term natural gas demand issues and constraints in its New York service area.
The company provides natural gas to 1.9 million customers throughout Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island.
The report highlights that over the past 10 years, demand for gas in this region has increased by 2.4 percent annually. This is driven, in part, by 1.9 percent real economic growth per year, which has led to the addition of 32 million square feet per year of housing and building space and 12,400 conversions to gas heat per year.
This demand growth has put constraints on National Grid’s gas network, threatening the company’s ability to meet the needs of customers during peak demand periods. To ensure sufficient supply this winter and next, National Grid took a series of measures, including the installation of additional Compressed Natural Gas (“CNG”) capacity, which allows up to 42 trucks per day to bring CNG from upstream of National Grid’s system. The plan is to expand that to 108 trucks for the winter of 2020/21.
Also, National Grid made an $8 million incremental investment in energy efficiency, demand response, and other gas conservation measures. This investment is designed to reduce peak-day gas usage among customers to enable new customer connections.
Looking long-term, natural gas demand will continue to increase, even with energy efficiency measures, over the next 15 years. This will create a supply versus demand gap that the company knows must be anticipated and resolved. The report dives into the challenges and solutions. This report describes the different options available for expanding capacity and/or further reducing demand to meet customer needs.
National Grid is not looking at this time to make a specific recommendation on the “best” solution. Instead, they want to provide options and share them with customers and the public for feedback.
“A dedicated team of energy subject matter experts have worked on producing this report,” John Bruckner, President, National Grid New York, said. “Our findings and options are presented in an impartial, fact-based way, so our customers can review them as objectively as possible. We look forward to receiving their constructive feedback.”
To do this, National Grid will host a series of information sessions on the report through the New York City and Long Island regions from March 9 through March 31. Check with National Grid for dates, times, and locations. The information sessions will provide the public with an opportunity to review the plan, discuss the options with subject matter experts, and provide feedback.
“The dialogue with the public on the long-term options is an important first step in addressing the natural gas capacity constraints in downstate New York,” Badar Khan, National Grid’s Interim U.S. President, said. “We want to hear from our customers and other stakeholders and understand their expectations and opinions on how we – together – can meet New York’s energy challenges. Ultimately, at the end of this process, we want to offer customers a balanced energy solution(s) that considers reliability, cost, and environmental and community impacts.”
After the public information sessions are completed, the feedback will be reviewed and incorporated into a supplemental report that will be out in June 2020. The goal is to put solutions in place by the winter of 2021/2022.
