Submitted by mycophdstudent t3_ym2f9c in vermont
Distinguished_Parrot t1_iv1kex6 wrote
Does this affect us?
Eversource serves NH, MA, and CT, and their warning is that there may not be enough natural gas to provide for their electric grids, not that there will necessarily be a shortage of gas to heat homes.
I don't know that our natural gas comes from the same source (we get ours from Canada) as Eversource, nor is it apparent that our VELCO electric grid is as dependent on natural gas as it is Hydro QC, unlike Eversource that leans on NG for over 1/3 their needs.
Aperron t1_iv1p5c9 wrote
Vermont doesn’t have a separate source of electricity from the rest of the providers in New England, it’s one common grid.
At the state level we like to pretend that it’s separate and that all of our energy needs are met from specific sources, and while that’s true in a way because a certain number of MwH are being brought into the grid from sources we would prefer in an amount equivalent to what Vermont is consuming, it’s still one large NE grid predominantly supplied by natural gas power plants where the market price is controlled by fluctuations in natural gas pricing.
https://www.iso-ne.com is where you can watch the generation sources and wholesale pricing in real-time. At the time I’m posting this comment, 50% of grid load is being supplied by natural gas plants. A reduction in gas availability will cause an absolutely enormous increase in the price GMP and VELCO are paying for each megawatt hour they’re pulling from the pool.
merikus t1_iv1ycfy wrote
What an interesting dashboard. Thanks for sharing.
Twombls t1_iv2p9up wrote
All energy markets are pretend but thankfully we "buy" most of out power from hydro quebec. The energy may be generated by natural gas. But thankfully we are "purchasing" it from hydro quebec and their prices are pretty stable.
Energy markets are really just stock market nonsense that was invented in the 90s lol.
Im just glad we dont have a deregulated market like Massachusetts because holy fuck people are gonna get screwed over this winter.
sorrycharlie88 t1_iv57kl5 wrote
>may not be enough natural gas to provide for their electric grids, not that there will necessarily be a shortage of gas to heat homes
Heaters and heating systems tend to run on electricity....
Twombls t1_iv5xoz5 wrote
In vt 95% of people do not have electric heating. Most people use gas or fuel oil.
sorrycharlie88 t1_iv6ah9h wrote
Was quoting/replying to the guy above about NH, MA, and CT.
Also, lots of people in vt do indeed use wood but 95% is way way too high. Not to mention that there was a push towards exterior wood furnaces that require electricity and heat through water pipes running to the home, and a big push towards pellet stoves as well. And people who burn with wood stoves who also rely on oil or gas heat might not stack enough wood for winter to rely solely on wood so if something did happen they could burn through their supply too fast.
Twombls t1_iv6ap56 wrote
75% of Massachusetts households are heated with either fuel oil or gas
I was exagerating with vermont, but only 5.93 % of households in vt are heated with electricity.
If you mean "use electricity" as in what powers the control units and fans. Then yes they use electricity. But the power draw on my natural gas furnace is less than my pc lmao.
sorrycharlie88 t1_iv6cubt wrote
Do you understand that your furnace's power draw is irrelevant if there is no power?
Twombls t1_iv6d4q6 wrote
There will be power. It will just be expensive
sorrycharlie88 t1_iv6eoy7 wrote
He said in a discussion on the article about potential rolling blackouts....
Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_iv1znwj wrote
Look up the freaking jones act to find out why it's hard to provide nat gas to NE. This article is a few years old but nothing has changed. Congress if they really gave a shit could fix this tomorrow.
https://www.globaltrademag.com/jones-act-forces-new-england-import-gas-russia/
fiddlersgreen2021 t1_iv2cqd3 wrote
And secondly, Congress could fix this shit tomorrow by subsidizing the US merchant fleet like other major powers do with theirs. If they brought the cost online with building an LNG ship in Asia we could build several for Jones act work.
At the end of the day most developed countries have cabotage laws as a manner of national defense. If another country can control your coast wise trade via owning most of the shipping than you lack a key piece of national sovereignty.
Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_iv2eork wrote
True thanks for the extra info hadn't really thought of that option. It would take some time though for construction of the ships. But ya there are lots of things than can be done we just need the will to do so. Side note had no clue what cabotage laws were:) Sounds like sabotaging a cabbage grow op.
fiddlersgreen2021 t1_iv2ghou wrote
In the short term I’d be ok with a Jones act waiver if it came with legislation for funding to build some of our own Jones act ships. We built them once, unfortunately a lot of our ship building capacity is gone, or focuses almost exclusively on pork belly navy ship building.
Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_iv2kh2q wrote
"came with legislation for funding to build some of our own Jones act ships."
Great solution with a long term goal but wasn't there bitching about the last waiver for PR that was just for a short time anyways? Everyone wants a cut it seems. Could be a major uphill battle in Congress. There was a few of em IIRC D's and R's bipartisan BS plenty of lobbying and greasing of palms. Govt has become useless this shouldn't be that hard. That's interesting though about the shipbuilding capacity decline something I have never thought of for sure. That whole industry is a bit foreign to me.
fiddlersgreen2021 t1_iv2m4qb wrote
There is bitching whenever jones act waivers are signed for Puerto Rico because there isn’t a problem with shipping capacity on American bottoms. Most of Puerto Rico’s problems are in Puerto Rico. After the two big storms a couple years back Crowley had ships and barges stacked up with no way to get goods inland as the roads were gone.
Hawaii is another good example. There is nothing stopping hawaii from getting fuel on foreign ships, as long is it comes from foreign sources. This also happens on a regular basis. There is nothing stopping them from getting consumer goods via container on foreign flagged ships, aside from the fact that the harbors are too small, and they are way off the most efficient track for Asia to west coast traffic.
Loudergood t1_iv5qnqe wrote
If I owned an LNG freighter it'd be on its way to Europe right now.
fiddlersgreen2021 t1_iv2c86t wrote
Trinidad is a shorter voyage than loading in the gulf, but we have to compete for that gas on the global market.
We could have a pipeline but New York blocked it as they didn’t benefit from it. It’s why the offshore hub for export loading outside of Boston was shut down.
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