To the Editor:
As a follow-up to Kate Leonard’s detailed letter (“Limit Old Gas Line Hookups,” Nov. 25), I have several related questions.
First, on Jan. 21, 2019, the valve failure in Weymouth, Massachusetts was due in part to a relaxation of maintenance standards and a human programming error. This malfunction alone would not have caused the loss of gas pressure in Newport-Middletown. Instead, it was compounded by a breakdown in the power supply at the National Grid facility at Fields Point in Providence. At that facility, a decrease in gas flow from Massachusetts should have resulted in a compensatory pumping of additional gas into the system to maintain the pressure.
Although this breakdown in the power supply had happened previously, the prior event was unfortunately never fully investigated. National Grid also failed to notify others in the supply system of the failure on Jan. 21. Also, because National Grid had failed to correctly estimate demand for that time period, the demand for gas exceeded the limits specified in the contract with the regional supplier.
Second, the shutdown of the island was almost total, as the gas infrastructure is apparently not set up to allow portions of the system to be isolated and shut down in sections.
Third, I am not sure how to characterize the behavior of National Grid. They heavily subsidized the conversion of heating systems from oil to gas. Because of a persistent lack of transparency, customers were encouraged to invest thousands of dollars to buy state-of-the-art gas boilers. But customers had no idea that their fancy system would be dependent on a delivery system where parts of the system consisted of leaking and corroded cast iron or uncoated steel pipes. Some of these pipes are 95-plus years old. (The life expectancy of cast iron pipes is 50 years).
So how do customers find out if their heating system will be supplied by corroded and leaking cast iron pipes, aging and rusted bare metal steel pipes, or the newer polyethylene plastic pipes? Not only should this information be public, but the cost of “unaccounted for” gas that has leaked out of pipes that are well beyond their lifespan should also be made public. The ratepayers pay for this. Alex Kuffner of The Providence Journal has reported that the percentage of leaked/lost gas in Rhode Island is about 7 percent, but what is the percentage of leaked/lost gas on Aquidneck Island? What is the cost?
Fortunately, National Grid has been gradually replacing the older, leaky pipes. But as of 2017, 29.8 percent of gas pipes in Rhode Island were still either bare steel or cast iron, according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. But again, we have no info for Aquidneck Island.
Now we are being asked to provide National Grid with feedback about the four options for our energy future. But how can we make informed decisions if we don’t have all the information?
Judith A. Byrnes
Newport
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December 03, 2020 at 11:50PM
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Unanswered Questions on Gas Infrastructure - Newport This Week
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