The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners President Julie Fedorchak recently announced the establishment of a new 15-month initiative to better harmonize the gas and electric industries to improve the reliability of both systems.
The electric industry is more reliant than ever on the gas industry to fuel electricity generation, NARUC noted in Nov. 22. “However, the gas industry is largely designed and constructed to deliver gas for home heating and industrial processes, which means gas infrastructure and markets are misaligned from electric markets.”
This lack of coordination between these two systems presents reliability concerns, as demonstrated during recent winter storms (e.g., Uri and Elliott), where dependence on gas in both systems is high, NARUC said.
The Gas-Electric Alignment for Reliability will convene a small group of state regulators and industry representatives to develop solutions to better align the gas and electric industries to maintain and improve the reliability of both energy systems on which our nation depends for power.
GEAR will recommend actions to address specific problems identified by numerous reports, including: the North American Energy Standards Board Gas-Electric Harmonization Forum, the Reliability Alliance Report (developed by the Natural Gas Supply Association, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and Electric Power Supply Association), the North American Electric Reliability Council and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s analyses of Storms Uri and Elliott.
GEAR will provide an update of its work at the 2024 NARUC Annual Meeting and Education Conference and a set of recommendations at the 2025 NARUC Winter Policy Summit.
Along with state utility regulators, the Working Group will be joined by individuals representing: (1) a gas utility, (2) an electric utility, (3) a Regional Transmission Organization or Independent System Operator, (4) an intrastate pipeline, (5) an interstate pipeline, (6) a producer and (7) a gas processor.
To learn more about GEAR, see the official charter at bit.ly/3Ram9fR.
