Interruptible

Columbia Gas is deeming Thursday as a Critical Day for storage, which means no interruptible storage injections are expected to be available. Upstream affiliate Columbia Gulf said no AutoPAL (Park and Loan) services nor due-pipe imbalance resolution nominations will be allowed effective Thursday.

After designating Friday as a Critical Day for storage in which no interruptible injections were expected to be available, Columbia Gas extended the Critical Day period to Saturday through Monday. The pipeline also barred Auto-PAL (Park and Loan) service through the weekend and said no nominations to resolve due-pipe imbalances were being accepted.

Affiliates Southern California Gas and San Diego Gas and Electric lifted Friday transmission curtailments for all interruptible and a number of firm noncore customers in southeast California’s Riverside, Imperial and San Diego counties.

Citing its high levels of working gas storage, TGT said starting Saturday (Sept. 5) it would stop accepting nominations for short-term interruptible injections and parking service until further notice. Any quantities currently parked have until the end of the month to be withdrawn, the pipeline said, adding that in the event of operational conditions prohibiting the unparking of all such quantities, it will allow until the end of October the unparking of any carryover gas. Withdrawals will be permitted under the SNS rate schedule, TGT said, but SNS injections will be performed on a best-efforts basis.

Columbia Gas extended a “Critical Day” restriction on interruptible storage injections (see Daily GPI, Aug. 27) through the end of the month.

Citing “unseasonably high inventory levels at Clay Basin [storage facility],” Questar said it will not accept any ISS (interruptible) injection or transfer nominations there effective June 1 until further notice.

Pacific Gas & Electric did not extend a systemwide low-inventory OFO beyond Thursday.

Tennessee told Interruptible Storage (IS) customers Tuesday that it was interrupting IS service in Northern Storage facilities because of “high storage balances [and] the need to ensure operational flexibility and to serve higher priority customers.” In addition, the pipeline is requiring that 100% of any IS customer’s balance be withdrawn by Oct. 15. “Because of the amount of time available to complete withdrawals and the quantities of gas involved, customers, at this time, will not be required to withdraw gas at the minimum daily rates,” Tennessee said, adding that such withdrawals cannot be satisfied by transferring the gas to another agreement unless it’s under an FS contract.

Tennessee said Thursday it will be required to restrict interruptible storage injections, including FS-AO, Park and Loan Payback services, across its system for the gas days of Saturday through Monday.