The Western Governors’ Association (WGA) natural gas supply/demand study of the West region of North America will kick off Tuesday in Sacramento, led by a team assembled by the California Energy Commission (CEC), which has contracted with the governors’ group to complete a two-phase, first-ever regional study. The first part will be completed by the end of this year; the second phase in the fall of next year.

Initiated by the governors’ group energy arm, the Western Interstate Energy Board, the study’s mission is to “conduct a comprehensive study of western energy supplies and infrastructure.” Liquefied natural gas (LNG) will receive prominent attention in the study, which covers 12 western U.S. states and western portions of Canada and Mexico.

While contributing to the ongoing analyses of electric generation resource adequacy, the assessment will focus on North American natural gas pipeline systems, with an emphasis on three western Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan), the western United States and northern Mexico, CEC officials said. “All natural gas consuming sectors will be analyzed — residential, commercial, industrial, and power generation.”

Tuesday’s session will focus on the study’s first phase — an analysis of normal temperature and hydroelectric resources. Cold weather and low-hydroelectric conditions also will be assessed for their impacts on natural gas supply/demand.

The day-long workshop will examine gas demand and North American natural gas reserves in the morning, and in the afternoon will examine LNG supply potential and the western natural gas interstate pipeline infrastructure, storage and proposed new LNG infrastructure.

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