Low-pressure gas problem in Rhode Island

DanHolohan

https://www.newportri.com/news/20190121/national-grid-suspending-gas-service-to-7100-locally

DanHolohan

And a reaction from the oil-heat industry:
https://www.nhregister.com/business/article/Connecticut-trade-group-calls-for-an-immediate-13556632.php

DanHolohan

More:
https://www.newstimes.com/business/article/Pipeline-company-says-high-demand-for-gas-may-13559645.php

DanHolohan

Meanwhile, in Ukraine:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-01/25/c_137771998.htm

DanHolohan

U.S. inventories:
https://www.investing.com/analysis/natural-gas-bulls-pray-for-sheer-cold-as-storage-loses-charm-200379334

DanHolohan

It's interesting to see how oil seems to be out of the question for new construction:
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/01/23/con-edison-natural-gas-line-moratorium/

Solid_Fuel_Man

It seems propane could be used as a temporary replacement. Most NG to LP conversions take less than an hour.

I bet there will be thousands of electric heaters plugged in to keep things above freezing.

Jamie Hall

And then more residential customers get cut off because the NG power stations are working so hard... right.

I like my oil company. And my diesel tractors. And my wife's diesel car. And my diesel trucks.

Steamhead

Someone needs to lose their job because of this.

ch4man

to play devils advocate, how many times have the now cold public rejected the rate increase cases brought to the PUC.

right or wrong gas companies are a public utility. rate cases are how the infrastructures costs are funded.

pay me now or pay me later

this is the end result when public infrastructure is allowed to age 50,60 or 100 years old with no or minimum upkeep.

water and sewer suffers from this as well.

Jamie Hall

Your not being a devil's advocate, @ch4man -- you're being a realist.

NY_Rob

Many are now leery of funding huge public projects because of the many, many cases of ethics violations, bribery and outright fraud attached to large public works projects over the years.

Back in the 1970's Suffolk County contracted with several private firms to install sewers along a multi-mile stretch of Long Island's south shore. It took over 14 years to complete, was fraught with financial overruns and bribery. Ethics violation charges were brought against the private contractors to the tune of 100's of millions of dollars... all at the taxpayers expense of course.

"The project was originally estimated to cost $291 million, but within four years the price was $588 million. Ultimately, the Southwest Sewer District would cost more than $1 billion and take 14 years before the first flush went through the system."

Read the rest of the eye-opening report:
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk-clean-water-1.18259554

DanHolohan

We lived through that one. Horrible.

NY_Rob

^ Yeah Dan... I lived in W. Islip at the time... we were literally right in the middle of the mess.
They ended up cutting one house on our road in half to run an intercept pipe to the next street over. Our road (which was a dead end street surrounded by water on three sides) was closed for over a month!

When you add up the 1 billion $$ wasted on the SWSD, then add in the 5.6 billion $$ wasted on the never used Shoreham Nuclear plant, and the school districts with administrators making over half a million $$ a year.. it's no wonder why we pay $10K property taxes on a 1/4 acre lot on Long Island.

Sal Santamaura

DanHolohan said:

It's interesting to see how oil seems to be out of the question for new construction:
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/01/23/con-edison-natural-gas-line-moratorium/

I don't know why. If I ever manage to convince my wife we should leave southern California and build on our land in New Hampshire, I'd likely go with oil rather than propane now that ultra-low-sulfur No. 2 is available there.

kcopp

There is a solution....

http://www.phius.org/about/mission-history