American Gas - June 2014 - (Page 31)

Next moNth light effort that would have to take place in the event of an outage. They alerted AGA officials that they might need to activate the mutual assistance program. But that wasn't necessary: At 3:30 p.m. Sunday, they received word from TransCanada that the largest of the three downed transmission lines-a 48-inch pipe-was back in service. By 8 p.m., the gas began arriving from Canada, and by the following morning Xcel began lifting its conservation request. "Dial those thermostats back to 'comfy,'" the company posted on its Facebook page at 9:17 a.m. on Jan. 27. Customers responded with a chorus of "Likes." In the months since, Xcel Energy has been reviewing both its operational and communications response to the crisis to determine what it could have done better. And, it's ramping up for a busy injection season in preparation for whatever the winter of 2015 brings. "In a situation like this, half your success is determined in advance," said Larson. "If you haven't done the prep work, things can go very badly, very quickly." - Jennifer Pilla Taylor why oNe utility likes to owN its supply t he long, cold winter and associated price spikes affirmed NorthWestern Energy's strategy of owning a significant percentage of its natural gas supply, NorthWestern CEO Bob Rowe told American Gas. Just last December, NorthWestern completed the $70.2 million purchase of a natural gas production field with more than 900 wells and 63 Bcf of net gas reserves, along with 82 miles of trans- mission line, in northern Montana. The year before, it paid nearly $20 million for a nearby field with 13.4 Bcf proven reserves. In 2010, it spent $12.4 million on an 8.4 Bcf field. As a result, the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based utility owns about 37 percent of the natural gas it needs to serve its 185,000 Montana customers. And it has locked it in for the next 20 years at $4.10 per dekatherm-less than a third of the market price on some of the highest demand days this winter. Going into the winter, NorthWestern had about 45 percent of its needed natural gas in storage, so the utility still had to buy on the spot market to supplement during the periods of extended cold. But its costs would have been much higher were it not for its recent major purchases, Rowe said. "What we're doing is protecting our customers from the uncertainty of the market. It's a buffer," said Rowe. NorthWestern is looking to further increase its percentage of owned supply, to up to 50 percent of its needs. The combination utility wants to procure reserves of 3 Bcf to 4 Bcf a year for its gasfired electric plants, Rowe said, and it is looking for opportunities to buy reserves in South Dakota and Nebraska, where it serves about 86,300 customers. NorthWestern's strategy runs counter to that of some companies, which have been separating the distribution function from production and transmission. For example, ONEOK recently spun off its distribution companies-Kansas Gas Service, Oklahoma Natural Gas Co., and Texas Gas Service-so that it could focus on its gathering, processing, and transportation business. Rowe said NorthWestern has no intention of becoming anything other than a regulated local distribution company. "We're simply putting ourselves in the position that, going forward, our prices will be based on cost, not the market," he said. -J.P.T. the csr report for natural gas utilities, community service is an integral part of customer service. But how do you choose which community program to sponsor? how do you design your initiatives? how do you enlist volunteers? how do you measure success? here's a look at trends in corporate social responsibility, with a look at what some utilities are doing. eNergy-efficieNcy tapping into a number of recent thirdparty studies, American Gas explores the state of the art in energy efficiency today. profile: peter furNiss as the co-founder and ceo of footprint power, peter furniss is focused on helping owners of coal- and oil-fired power plants transition their facilities to new purpose-such as gas-fired generation. his company's newest project: a gas-fired station in salem harbor, mass.(above). its goal: to reduce emissions and close the plant by 2050. BurNer tips: challenges to the eminent domain authority of distribution pipelines are gaining traction. here's one energy attorney's view on why this is happening-and what can be done about it. Buyer's guide preview: risk management june 2014 AMeriCAn GAs 31

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American Gas - June 2014