US NERC issues warning ahead of winter storms, seeks assurance on gas reliability

With natural gas-fired generation so critical for power grid reliability, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. issued a Dec. 31 warning for all elements of the energy sector to ensure gas supplies to power plants are not compromised during a string of winter storms expected to hit the Eastern US in early January.

In a video message to the gas and power sector, NERC President and CEO Jim Robb referred to a series of cold fronts taking aim at the eastern two-thirds of North America over the next two to three weeks.

Robb acknowledged that "forecasts are forecasts" and can be inaccurate, but he said the systems could bring a prolonged period of very low temperatures, with single-digit temperatures in the US South. "As a result, I'm asking everyone in the electricity supply chain, from natural gas producers to pipeline operators to [independent] system operators, to power generators and the utilities themselves, to take all appropriate actions to ensure that we can maintain an uninterrupted supply of electricity to customers so that January will be warm and bright for everyone," he said.

"The actions that you take now may very well help us avoid the consequences of events" experienced during winter storms in 2021 and 2022, Robb said.

NERC, in a statement related to Robb's message, also said it was "especially concerned about natural gas supply given the significant amount of production in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Current forecasts from private weather service AccuWeather call for an Arctic blast to move across the US in the first week of January, including areas around the Marcellus Shale gas production region in Appalachia. Drastically colder conditions are expected to bring winter storms to the Midwest, South and East in the first half of January, with the chance that "this could end up being the coldest January since 2011 for the US as a whole," Paul Pastelok, lead long-range expert at AccuWeather, said in a Dec. 29 statement.

Following those winter storms, when rolling blackouts were needed in a few states to avoid a major power grid collapse and the limitations of gas and electric industry coordination were exposed, state and federal regulators and industry groups made improving coordination a priority. NERC has developed winter storm protection standards and had several approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but some have not taken effect and industry coordination remains a work in progress.

Gas supplies can face constraints during winter, with home heating pushing gas usage higher as producers may face freezing equipment, NERC has noted in previous warnings. The grid reliability organization and FERC Chairman Willie Phillips have said that a national gas reliability organization is needed, while pipelines and the gas sector have not embraced that idea.

The latest effort related to gas-electric coordination, after the North American Energy Standards Board produced a report in 2023, is the gas readiness forum announced by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners in November. The American Gas Association hosted the initial meeting of the gas readiness forum in Atlanta Dec. 16-17. The event was closed to the press.

In separate statements after that meeting, AGA, the Natural Gas Supply Association and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America highlighted steps members are taking to ensure gas deliveries during winter storms. NGSA members, which are major producers, have taken several measures to guard against production freeze-offs, such as improving wellhead protections and adding heaters and backup power systems, NGSA President and CEO Dena Wiggins said in a recent statement.

In a LinkedIn post shortly after the gas readiness forum meeting, Wiggins said, "Increased knowledge about the actions our industry and our customers take to prepare for reliable winter operations is important, and the ability to meet face-to-face provides the best opportunity for enhancing our interactions with both industry stakeholders and policymakers."

AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert said the meeting in Atlanta brought stakeholders from the industry and federal and state governments together to discuss situational awareness and improve communications.

Participants from the US Energy Department, FERC, NERC, state regulators, gas and electric utilities, producers, pipelines and generators took part in the meeting, AGA said.

"The unmatched resilience and reliability of natural gas delivery is a fundamental part of our energy system," and "we're pleased to help lead this effort to ensure that value to provide reliable energy to customers and communities is held throughout the entire energy industry," Harbert said in a Dec. 17 statement.