Grid

Significant new gas transportation capacity is being added to the pipeline grid in the Mid-Atlantic region through three major pipeline expansions that will increase the delivery of supply from diverse sources, including the Gulf Coast/Gulf of Mexico, Canada and from overseas through Dominion’s Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Maryland. All three projects — Duke Energy’s Dominion Expansion and Dominion Transmission’s related Mid-Atlantic Expansion and Cove Point East projects — have been approved by FERC.

Representatives from natural gas pipeline companies, gas associations and Mid Atlantic power grid operator PJM Interconnection met recently to begin discussions about the impact of adding more natural gas-fired power plants in PJM’s territory. But news of the talks came just as analysts at Energy Security Analysis Inc. (ESAI) issued a report questioning whether the bulk of generation development underway in PJM will ever come to fruition.

CapacityCenter.com, which tracks released capacity transactions across the North American pipeline grid, said 15.6 Tcf of released capacity was traded last year, nearly 75% of total U.S. gas consumption, and the top 25 capacity traders did 49% of the transactions representing about 72% of the total.

New York was caught off guard by the spring heat wave last week that pushed temperatures into the 90s for three straight days driving power demand up to summer levels at a time when as much as 10,415 MW of generation and a significant amount of transmission capacity was down for maintenance. Temperatures in the city hit record highs of near 90 on Tuesday, 95 on Wednesday and 92 on Thursday. Monday and Friday temperatures reached the 80s.

The Northeast power grid could be tested this summer, but it looks like California will get another break because of forecasts for cooler than normal temperatures, according to the latest information from Weather Services International (WSI).

The thousands of miles of transmission lines that cut across American Transmission Co.’s (ATC) service territory throughout most of Wisconsin and parts of Michigan and Illinois are under increasing strain these days as pockets of growth combine with an aging infrastructure to create a “perfect storm” for transmission planners in the region.

The Independent Electricity Market Operator (IMO) of Ontario is soliciting bids for a “Multi-Region Natural Gas Infrastructure Study” covering the northeastern United States and Canada. IMO is coordinating the study on behalf of six other entities, including the New York ISO, PJM Interconnection, ISO New England, the Northeast Power Coordinating Council and the North American Electric Reliability Council.

British Columbia’s natural gas pipeline grid is seeking to raise its tolls by up to 19% and is urging regulators and the rest of the industry to tackle a lingering Canadian headache with potential to increase costs further. Westcoast Energy Inc., soon to be subsidiary of Duke Energy under a takeover transaction scheduled to close shortly, has applied to the National Energy Board for the raise in the new year.

Justices at the U.S. Supreme Court last Wednesday heard a divergent mix of opinions as to whether FERC has gone too far or done too little in implementing its groundbreaking Order 888 in which the Commission ordered utilities to open up their interstate transmission facilities.