I was speaking with my friend and for some reason we started talking about gas pipelines and about how natural gas gets to my home in White Plains. I’m certainly no expert in gas pipelines, but I’m happy to share what I’ve found.
The natural gas system in Westchester has been at capacity since 2019, however, as of December 2o23, ConEd ended the gas moratorium – ConEd NY PSC Filing, Nov 17 2023 (NY PSC ConEd Filings. item 9) . ConEd was able to end the gas moratorium due to increased capacity that completion of Tennessee Gas Valley Pipeline Company. This pipeline starts down in Mexico and continues through the large gas fields in the Eastern US – Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (kindermorgan.com). Believe it or not, the project is finishing on time as per 2019 predictions – Con Ed’s Deal . With Tennessee Company May End Natural Gas Moratorium In 2023 – CBS New York (cbsnews.com).
So back to the topic, how does natural gas get to my house. The first stop is extracting gas from expansive natural gas reserves in the eastern US. As usual, the EIA is the place to see where the gas fields are.
shale_gas_lower48.pdf (eia.gov)
The national gas pipeline system is regulated by the US Energy Information Administration, Natural gas pipelines – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Plenty to learn on this site about the national gas distribution system here.
Here’s a map of the national gas pipeline network,
Now let’s drill down to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, which is one of the main systems serving my area in White Plains, NY.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (kindermorgan.com)
Gas has been transported from gas fields across vast pipeline systems, and then it hits Westchester County. In Westchester there is limited gas pipeline access as show in this map from National Pipeline and Hazard Materials Safety Administration, NPMS – Home.
Once the gas gets to Westchester, then ConEd routes the gas to my house. How? There aren’t any publicly available ConEd gas service maps, but I know I pay plenty for gas delivery – $2.12/therm. Read this post for more details on gas delivery rates.
My hours of research on the gas pipeline system has been pretty interesting. If you have an hour to spare, I recommend this detailed tutorial on the ConEd gas pipeline system on the ConEd site- Updates to Our Natural Gas System Planning
One other lesson I’ve learned from this post and many others is that Federal Government is critical to energy markets. They provide data, regulation, massive funding, and fund innovation. I’m no expert on energy, but I’m sure the Federal Government screws up plenty in the US energy markets. But nonetheless, it seems to me that we need these agencies funded and functional. They are doing important work to delivery reliable and safe energy.
More to come on this topic as I learn more myself.
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