The Pacific Northwest is blessed with two amazing energy infrastructures in the electric grid and in the natural gas system.
The January storm and record demand created significant stress on our energy infrastructure. We successfully avoided an electric grid failure, however, because natural gas storage and pipelines were available to fuel the electric generating plants that supported the electric system during this extreme weather. Also critical were our region’s hydropower system and electricity imported from the Southwest and Rocky Mountain states.
Our generation mix is rapidly moving away from coal-fired generation to renewable electricity like solar and wind. As that shift occurs, the region is leaning more heavily on other on-demand resources, like hydropower and imported electricity. But the system must also have natural gas-fired generation and the infrastructure needed to move the energy across the region.
Expanding and modernizing natural gas pipelines, storage capacities and distribution networks are critical ways we must strengthen our energy system to handle the inevitable pressure of demand during critical weather events. The same is true for electric transmission, storage assets and distribution networks.
The grid did not fail in January. We may not be as lucky in the future if decarbonization efforts fail to recognize the critical importance of a diverse energy mix that includes affordable, reliable natural gas. It plays a role in our clean energy future.
We cannot underestimate the critical importance of robust energy diversity, and the infrastructure needed to meet the demands placed on it.
Camilo Amezquita and Roger Gray
Amezquita is vice president and general manager of Williams-Northwest Pipeline. Gray is CEO and president of PNGC Power.
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Read More: Energy diversity saved us during storm