Hurricane Irene turned out the lights on millions of East Coast residents and in doing so cut demand for natural gas by about 2.8 Bcf, according to an analysis by Bentek Energy LLC. The firm on Aug. 29 said the storm dropped gas demand by 1.3 Bcf in the Northeast since the previous Saturday (Aug. 27) and another 0.8 Bcf of demand loss was expected. About 0.7 Bcf of demand had been lost in the Southeast. Analysts at Canaccord Genuity Inc. also noted the storm’s gas demand destruction. “…[G]as-fired generation has declined by 2-plus Bcf/d over the past couple days, with the heaviest declines, not surprisingly, occurring in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions,” the firm said. “At the same time, precautionary refinery shutdowns in conjunction with activity-limiting flooding suggest industrial demand is likely to see some degradation in these regions as well. Putting it all together, Irene was clearly a net bearish event for the gas complex and, depending on the length of outages, will likely lead to a cumulative natural gas demand loss of 30-plus Bcf over the next couple [of] weeks.”
Lights
Articles from Lights
For Gas Demand, Irene Was a Bear
Hurricane Irene turned out the lights on millions of East Coast residents and in doing so cut demand for natural gas by about 2.8 Bcf, according to an analysis by Bentek Energy LLC.
NGI The Weekly Gas Market Report
Maryland Consumers’ Summer Electric Bills Could Soar 72%
Maryland electricity customers may be turning off their lights and lowering their air conditioning this summer following an announcement by the Public Service Commission of Maryland (PSC) last week that some electric bills could jump by as much as 72% due in part to increased fuel prices, which has hiked the costs to utilities of buying electricity for retail distribution.
Wood Cites LNG Policies, Restoring FERC Morale as Biggest Achievements
“Keep the lights on and keep the people warm. Keep listening to the customer…I think when we have failed to do that on both the power and gas side, industry has suffered and the country has suffered,” departing Chairman Pat Wood said when asked for his advice to commissioners and staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the energy industry.
Regulators Hear of Pending Repeat Crisis in California
Four years after the power crisis that put out the lights in California, the state is still locked in an untenable position, facing a growing load with little net gain in generation capacity, relying on a fleet of aging power plants with the prospect of reduced imports from the Pacific Northwest and continuing policies that keep investment out of the state and limit demand response, according to witnesses at a joint hearing presided over by federal and state regulators last Thursday.
With Winter Showing Tail-lights, Bears Assert Their Control
In concert with the downtrend now in its seventh week, the natural gas futures market stumbled lower Monday as traders returned from the weekend to weather forecasts suggesting the month of March would blow in more like a lamb than like a lion.
Lights Come Back on for Most Customers Hit by Cascading Blackouts
The “vast majority” of customers that lost power as a result of the massive wave of electrical outages that hit the Northeast, Great Lakes and eastern Canada on Thursday were being returned to service Friday, the head of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) said at the end of the week.
Editorial: An Open Letter to the Natural Gas Industry and Its Customers
If you’ve gotten the feeling that someone is watching you, you’re not paranoid. The spotlight is on natural gas prices and the lights are only going to get brighter.
Editorial: An Open Letter to the Natural Gas Industry and Its Customers
If you’ve gotten the feeling that someone is watching you, you’re not paranoid. The spotlight is on natural gas prices and the lights are only going to get brighter.
Increasing Heat Lights a Fire Under Cash Prices
Rising temperatures, particularly in the Midwest and Midcontinent regions, gave an extra push Tuesday to the somewhat hesitant rally of the day before. The result was double-digit gains at almost every point Tuesday, with a majority of them surpassing 20 cents and a couple approaching 40 cents.
