Keep the current pipes, build a barge, install electric pumps, or construct a whole new pipe system. Those were the four options provided by a National Grid representative in a meeting on Nov. 18 with the Newport City Council and City Manager Joseph J. Nicholson Jr. The session was a continuation of a meeting from Nov. 12.
Winter operations at Old Mill Lane in Portsmouth, the site of the low-pressure gas outage in January 2019, and long-term energy solutions were discussed.
National Grid’s Brian Schuster said the option of installing electric pumps is the most environmentally sound, and most expensive, to execute.
The second option, building an LNG (liquefied natural gas) barge, might include hydrogen as a future energy source, helping with the removal of carbon in the atmosphere, he said. But it would take years to build.
The third option would enable the natural gas transmission supplier to build a new pipeline to the island, providing additional capacity and reliability.
The final option, Schuster said, would be to leave the system as is, which is the most affordable solution to continue LNG operations out of Portsmouth this winter.
“Of course, there was quite a bit of resistance [to that option], as you can understand, from the residents in both Portsmouth and Middletown,” he said.
Schuster is seeking City Council input by Dec. 9, the first meeting of the new council, as he looks to make National Grid’s formal presentation to regulatory agencies.
“We will come with some countering and so forth, at the end of the calendar year, where we will finalize the recommendations,” he said, before going to the PUC for a final decision with recommendations in March.
If the new ideas are rejected, National Grid will continue operating at Old Mill Lane. “We hope to be supported by the regulatory officials and [determine] this long-range solution,” Schuster said.
The public has been invited to provide feedback and ask questions at the National Grid website.
Councilor Kate Leonard said people are questioning whether the gas supply has been compromised with additional hookups to other heat sources, and asked if a hook-up moratorium should be imposed.
“No, we do not intend, nor do we support a moratorium,” said Schuster. “A moratorium is not conducive to growth on the island.”
Gas pressure and capacity is a challenge on the coldest day of the year, he said, citing the disastrous week-long heat interruption experienced last January.
Councilor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano asked if the public would be able to see the questions and specific feedback sent in to the National Grid website. Schuster said that general remarks will be posted anonymously in a “synthesized report,” much like they were when the utility company-sponsored several open houses.
Councilor Susan Taylor asked if disaster scenarios are included with each option. Schuster said they were not.
“We tried to use factual evidence,” he said.
However, he said, more than one option may lead to various other protocols being adopted, depending on community feedback, into what he called a “dual development” of ideas.
“Overall, we are going to support that one [option] that makes the most sense, or a combination of the ones that make the most sense,” he said.
“The feedback we are getting is largely inconclusive right now. How can we move forward with the least resistance? At the end of the day, too, affordability will be a key aspect here,” he said.
Some options were problematic on their surface, he said.
“With the Old Mill Lane option, we have people who live right across the street from our temporary LNG setup,” he said. “It’s not popular. With an LNG barge, you are going to see it a couple of miles offshore.”
John Reed, a local resident and a former engineer at National Grid, said, “This gas outage affected my family more than I ever thought it would.”
So much, he said, that he became a “gas engineer competitor.”
“I am fascinated by what I learned and how this is affecting Newport,” he said. “The number one concern I had, beyond the supply you spoke about, is the mechanical consideration. It’s to point out there is a low-pressure line in Newport served by a quarter pound of pressure. I don’t understand how the system can sustain another cold-weather event like the one in 2019.”
Schuster conceded that there is risk of another outage.
Reed recommended replacing the lines “down to the southern part of Newport, [and] actually upgrading low pressure to be turned over to a high-pressure system.”
“We do intend to change from low to high [pressure] as our funding allows,” said Schuster.
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November 26, 2020 at 12:00AM
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National Grid Proposes Four Future Gas Options - Newport This Week
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