Heavy snow and a sudden deep freeze led to perilously low natural gas supplies in some parts of New York state in December 2022.
Times Union file photo
ALBANY — Just over a year ago New York almost ran out of gas. Not the kind you put in your car, but the kind millions of people use to heat their homes.
A new report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Winter Storm Elliott last December illustrates how perilously close parts of the Empire State came to being caught in a real-time climate emergency. That possibility unfolded over several days in December as the supply of natural gas dwindled, sparking fears that scores of New Yorkers would be trapped in their homes without heat during a record cold snap.
The report illustrates the ongoing importance of natural gas for heating and power generation, according to the gas industry.
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But it also paints a picture of a national gas pipeline system in need of attention.
And climate activists say it proves their point that heating buildings with electricity rather than gas is the best bet moving forward.
Winter Storm Elliott, for those who’ve forgotten, was a ferocious “bomb cyclone” that swept through North America around Christmas time.
Temperatures plunged to single digits in a flash freeze and parts of western New York got more than 3 feet of snow.
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‘Would’ve been catastrophic’
ConEd, the utility that serves millions of people downstate including New York City and Westchester County on Dec. 24 declared a “gas emergency” as customers were asked to turn down their thermostats to save the fuel. Had the situation deteriorated, untold numbers of people would have been in danger of freezing.
“This would’ve been catastrophic. Everyone should be concerned enough to take action on this report and recommendations when they come out, immediately,” FERC acting Chair Willie Phillips said earlier this fall, according to the Energy Wire news site.
Against this background, FERC dissected what went wrong regarding the electric and gas power grids and has offered recommendations.
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It is calling for more robust planning and communications among those who operate the power grids in various states.
FERC’s 167-page “Inquiry into Bulk-Power System Operations During December 2022 Winter Storm Elliott” also recommends
a study on whether “additional natural gas infrastructure, including interstate pipelines and storage, is needed to support the reliability of the electric grid and meet the needs of natural gas Local Distribution Companies.”
In other words, the federal agency is asking if there is a need for more gas pipeline capacity.
Those in the gas industry quickly seized upon the FERC report as proof that more, not less, gas is needed, at least in the foreseeable future.
“The United States needs more natural gas pipeline capacity to maintain a resilient system,” the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America said in a prepared statement regarding the report.
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Others closer to home said the report highlighted the hurdles in shifting too quickly from fossil fuels like gas to newer technology like solar generation and electrical heat pumps for heating houses.
“The idea of decarbonizing the state in 30 years is a noble one, and an exciting one. But it lacks practical reality. We are still a state that is very dependent upon our natural gas infrastructure inside cities and propane infrastructure beyond the gas mains,” Bill Overbaugh, executive director of the state Propane Gas Association, said in an email.
“New York state has done everything imaginable to prevent the development of additional natural gas infrastructure,” added Tom Shepstone, a consultant and activist who has long criticized New York’s ban on fracking for natural gas.
Shepstone has also been critical of the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the 2019 bill that calls for a carbon-free power grid by 2040.
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Gas plants may need to stay open
Fueling the debate was a report by the New York Independent System Operator, or NYISO.
NYISO recently said that old gas-burning power plants may have to operate longer than expected until new sources like solar or wind are fully developed.
Known as “peakers” these aging, often dirty plants that use gas or even oil are activated during periods of high energy demand. Historically, peak demand in New York has come with summer heat waves when air conditioning use spikes. But as more and more buildings are moving to state-mandated electric heat, energy experts believe peak demand may come during winter during cold snaps.
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Specifically, NYISO planners said four aging peaker plants in New York City would likely have to remain open until May 2027 rather than May 2025 as earlier proposed. That backup is needed in case of another flash freeze or disruptive weather event.
“Extreme weather, which is often accompanied by increased demand for electricity, raises the risk of outages,” NYISO concluded.
NYISO helps operate the state’s power grid and its planning recommendations can essentially keep a plant open for as long as officials there believe it’s needed.
Activists see things differently
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Climate activists, though, have a different take on these reports, especially FERC’s.
They believe the problem is that New York isn’t moving fast enough to develop wind and solar and to electrify buildings.
And they see the near catastrophe with Winter Storm Elliott as evidence that using natural gas for home and office heating isn’t the best answer going forward.
“The prudent move would be to stop spending millions of dollars out of New Yorkers’ pockets on continued gas buildout. Instead, we should put that money to use helping working families electrify their homes,” said Alex Beauchamp, regional director for Food and Water Watch, an organization that opposes gas line expansions in New York including the proposed addition of larger pump stations in Dover, Dutchess County, and Athens in Greene County.
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“It’s a pretty damming report on the state of nationwide gas infrastructure and the deficiencies are not something that can be fixed overnight,” said Anshul Gupta, research policy director at New Yorkers for Clean Power.
They were among the climate activists who successfully pushed for a state mandate that phases out traditional natural gas for heating and cooking in new buildings, in favor of high-tech electric heaters and stoves. That phase-out is scheduled to begin in 2026.
Electrifying buildings will still require gas for the immediate future since some of the power for electric heaters will come from gas-fired power plants.
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