The Natural Gas Council (NGC), which represents the companies that collectively account for nearly all aspects of the production, transportation, sales and delivery of the nation’s natural gas, issued the following statement regarding the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s (NERC) Generation Retirement Scenario report, which sought to assess potential impacts on the power grid of accelerated coal and nuclear plant retirements:
“We are pleased that NERC consulted natural gas stakeholders in the development of its study and agree that it is important to periodically assess the capability of the grid to accommodate unexpected and extreme events.
“While the study’s retirement assumptions and scenarios are extreme and impractical, we are pleased NERC acknowledged the growing importance of natural gas and called for policymakers to explore ways to improve the energy infrastructure permitting process. The analysis shows the importance of timely permitting and construction of pipeline capacity to ensure the grid can operate under any number of future scenarios, including retirements of generation units.
“The natural gas industry is committed to reliability and security and will do its part to continue to improve and strengthen the resilience of the grid.”
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The Natural Gas Council was formed in 1992, uniting all sectors of the natural gas industry to work together toward common goals. The five full members of the Council — the American Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Natural Gas Supply Association — collectively represent nearly all the companies that produce, transport and distribute natural gas consumed in the United States. Leadership of the NGC rotates annually, with the Natural Gas Supply Association leading the Council in 2018. www.naturalgascouncil.org
