If winter is bitter, brace for a natural-gas crunch

[Thom Little]

From Maine to Florida, from Virginia to Missouri, as much as half the United States confronts the possibility that harshly cold weather will lead to restrictions of natural-gas supplies. In some places - areas heavily dependent on natural gas to produce electricity - the prospect of "rolling blackouts," or controlled power outages, is much higher than in previous winters.

Any natural-gas cutoffs would primarily affect electric-power plants and factories fueled by gas, not homes, and be most likely in the Northeast.

If cold deepens for prolonged periods, the likelihood of interrupted natural-gas supplies rises to 30 percent in the Northeast and to 10 percent as far south as Florida and as far west as Missouri, according to a recent report by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), a trade association representing gas pipeline companies. In a "worst-case" scenario, chances of interrupted gas rise to 40 percent for the Northeast and 25 percent across the eastern seaboard.

Though power-industry officials in New England are the most concerned, noting the region's lack of fuel diversity and propensity for intense cold, the impact could be far broader. If winter temperatures plummet for long, natural-gas supplies could be quickly depleted, leading to a power crunch in some regions and soaring prices across a wider area, experts say.

"By no stretch of the imagination is this only going to impact New England," says Richard Levitan, an energy expert who has analyzed the impact on the utility industry of this fall's natural-gas shortfall after the Gulf hurricanes. "The Southeast, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and New York, they're all going to feel this."



http://csmonitor.com/2005/1129/p01s02-usec.html

[truthisfreedom]

1. rolling electrical blackouts shut down furnaces and boilers.

people will freeze. this is ridiculous.

we need a nation independent of oil, and we need it now.

[LWolf]

2. We had our first big winter storm yesterday.

We also had, for customers of one power company, the first blackout. In this area, you heat with wood, electricity, or propane. And most people use wood and electricity.

I was watching the weather report, and got this quote from the power company, "explaining" the power outages:

"People were all turning on their lights and heat at the same time!!!"