To the Editor:
I am writing to share my thoughts on the National Grid workshops that have recently been held with the City Council.
I have a very good working relationship with National Grid engineers and the district foreman, who has been very responsive to the needs of my ward, in particular. However, I have a different opinion than they do on the issue of natural gas supply and the advertising to bring in new customer hookups. The gas supply needs to remain stable for our present users.
After having spoken to engineers in the gas field and clients who are very familiar with natural gas production and gas lines, I think it is imperative that Newport look at the big picture of our energy needs, and thus supply and demand. The gas outage in January 2019 seems to have occurred because of both mechanical failure and the fact that National Grid has a supply contract with its Algonquin gas supplier that has specific contractual limits that must be met and no more.
If we were to experience weather conditions similar to January 2019, we would also probably experience the outage again along the same low pressure (“LP”) lines that went out of service then. LP lines operate at about ¼ pound of pressure. With all the load growth (more new customers) that occurred on the LP lines over the years, those older lines do not seem to be capable of handling the current demand during such weather under normal operating circumstances. In the industry, it is referred to as “suck down,” which is the phenomenon that occurs when too many appliances, boilers, furnaces, and hot water heaters take the natural gas fuel and the LP line can’t keep up with the demand.
To mitigate the risk, utilities, including National Grid, have been re-laying the gas main to intermediate pressure (typically around 50 psig) that provides plenty of additional pressure in the line to handle the draw/“suck down” that LP systems cannot manage.
I believe that until National Grid replaces the old steel LP main with modern IP plastic pipe, weather conditions like we had in January 2019 could result in another gas outage. I would like to see National Grid work with Newport in limiting the number of new connections to our gas main until the necessary upgrades are made to the LP system.
This is an infrastructure need, not a “want.” I think the City Council needs to require National Grid to upgrade the old steel LP lines before new connections are approved and hold National Grid accountable for addressing this need with greater urgency. Residents and businesses need to feel safe and not compromised.
Kate Leonard
Newport City Council
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November 26, 2020 at 12:00AM
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