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I guess the follow up question would be: How do our more northern areas go about winterizing -- do they do the extra NG system as you suggest? Or do they also f

I guess the follow up question would be: How do our more northern areas go about winterizing -- do they do the extra NG system as you suggest? Or do they also freeze and nobody does it any better than Texas? I had thought the winterization claims stemmed from areas that experience this weather more frequently having solved it, or at least improved it, so it would be more interesting to compare to how they handle it. Esp if the cited mandates are federal and e.g. affect them as well?

beerandt 5y ago
It's more about expected supply and demand under certain constraints than any particular winterizing technology. Cold weather spikes (or stretches) are expected in the north. It's sort of like asking why Northern or Western coastal cities don't have better hurricane protection or levees. It's not needed or worth the investment, even if New England does get an occasional hurricane. Despite federal flood protection mandates. Asking what Southern and Gulf Coast cities do to prepare is a valid question, but doesn't justify taking the same precautions. A better comparison is perhaps a windless summertime high pressure system causing rolling blackouts in California or Chicago. When was the last time you heard the spot price publicized during a summertime blackout? Was it blamed on the equipment not being sufficiently designed for operation during an infrequent heat wave? Or on lack of planning? Or just blamed on the "freak" heat and possibly global warming? The Texas event is a bit more complex due to underlying and transitioning infrastructure buildout where NG plays a much larger role, but its roughly the same as far as expectations go. And the bigger takeaway should be that overdemand/undersupply of NG in cold weather is a runaway condition, but mainly due to pressure drops at the wells, not lack of insulation. Expected spikes don't cause pressure drops.

beerandt 5y ago

It's more about expected supply and demand under certain constraints than any particular winterizing technology. Cold weather spikes (or stretches) are expected in the north. It's sort of like asking why Northern or Western coastal cities don't have better hurricane protection or levees. It's not needed or worth the investment, even if New England does get an occasional hurricane. Despite federal flood protection mandates. Asking what Southern and Gulf Coast cities do to prepare is a valid question, but doesn't justify taking the same precautions. A better comparison is perhaps a windless summertime high pressure system causing rolling blackouts in California or Chicago. When was the last time you heard the spot price publicized during a summertime blackout? Was it blamed on the equipment not being sufficiently designed for operation during an infrequent heat wave? Or on lack of planning? Or just blamed on the "freak" heat and possibly global warming? The Texas event is a bit more complex due to underlying and transitioning infrastructure buildout where NG plays a much larger role, but its roughly the same as far as expectations go. And the bigger takeaway should be that overdemand/undersupply of NG in cold weather is a runaway condition, but mainly due to pressure drops at the wells, not lack of insulation. Expected spikes don't cause pressure drops.