Energy Watch: Don’t take it lightly

What would happen at your home or office if the natural gas supply suddenly stopped flowing?

First, the lights would go out. That’s because Matanuska Electric Association purchases electricity from Chugach Electric, which relies on natural gas for power generation.

Without electricity, forced air furnaces, hot water heaters, water pumps, the refrigerator — anything that requires electricity — would cease to function.

Second, the temperature would drop in homes and businesses around the Valley that rely on natural gas for heating.

This wouldn’t be like the wind storm in late September that left some MEA customers sitting in the dark for three or four days. Rather ENSTAR spokesman John Sims said if the natural gas system were to fail, it could take months to purge air from each customer’s line and restart the system.

And what could make the natural gas delivery system fail?

On winter’s coldest days when the mercury sinks to the bottom of the thermometer and stays for days or weeks, demand for natural gas increases as much as 12 fold, he said.

And if demand exceeds supply the delivery system crashes.

This winter and last Mat-Su Borough joined residents in the Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula boroughs in an Energy Watch test. Wednesday evening Southcentral Alaska residents were asked to voluntarily reduce their energy consumption for two hours, according to Patty Sullivan, director of public affairs for the Mat-Su Borough.

Residents were asked to reduce their energy consumption by lowering thermostats to 65 degrees; shutting off unnecessary lights and electronics; setting the water heater to “warm” or “vacation;” postponing washing dishes and doing laundry; and reducing natural gas range use.

These are the steps listed in the Yellow section of the Energy Watch chart that Southcentral residents would be asked to take in the event of a real energy deliverability problem.

So far, the Liquid Natural Gas plant ConocoPhillips and Marathon own in Nikiski has been used as a backstop and utility customers haven’t been asked to voluntarily conserve, Sullivan said.

Sims said when ENSTAR customers need more gas than the gas system can deliver, natural gas is diverted away from the export plant.

A new $180 million storage project will also help backstop the system when it comes online; as soon as next year, Sims told the Palmer Chamber at a meeting this month. He said Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska has plans to convert a nearly depleted gas field on the Kenai Peninsula into a storage facility where excess gas from the summer can be stored for use during the winter.

A state Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas review completed in 2009 says Cook Inlet contains more than a 10-year supply of natural gas. But according to a second report commissioned by ENSTAR Natural Gas Company, Chugach Electric Association and Anchorage Municipal Light and Power, Cook Inlet producers will need to invest $2.8 billion to bring it to market.

Then there is the question of time. Even if producers are willing to invest the billions the study says is needed, new production isn’t likely to enter the pipe fast enough to entirely avoid the need to import some LNG, according to Bill Popp, President and chief executive officer for the Anchorage Economic Development Corp.

What can Mat-Su Borough residents do?

“If the threat level is at Yellow on the Energy Watch chart, it means that the utilities haven’t been able to mitigate the threat,” Sims said. “If you ever see that, please don’t take it lightly.”