Editor & Publisher, Marcellus Drilling News (MDN)
Andrew Cuomo seems to think building more New York pipelines is completely unnecessary but the market and the experience of NG Advantage says otherwise.
NG Advantage, the pioneer in “virtual pipeline” trucked CNG service, majority-owned by Clean Energy Fuels, tried to build a compressor station/trucking hub in a Binghamton, New York suburb, but that effort failed earlier this year due to local opposition. We’re sure the entire situation left a sour taste in NG’s mouth. Even so, this past winter NG didn’t turn its back on New York State, much to their credit.
National Grid, one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world (covering Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and the UK), had a problem in Long Island during the winter months. As temps got super low, National Grid needed more natural gas to meet the spike in demand from customers.
New York is pipeline-phobic, so what could National Grid do? They turned to NG Advantage and NG rose to the occasion, trucking CNG (compressed natural gas) from facilities in Massachusetts and Vermont to Long Island, helping supply National Grid customers in the Empire State. Here’s the story of a company that didn’t turn its back on New York (emphasis added)l:
NG Advantage, the pioneer in virtual pipeline CNG service, which is majority-owned by Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE), successfully served National Grid with a three-month winter peaking project at a facility in New York State. During this winter’s extremely low temperatures, NG Advantage offered the utility a CNG solution capable of delivering 15,000 Mcf a day to support spikes in demand and ensure reliable heat for New York residents.
“Based on the limited availability of natural gas supplies in the Northeast, National Grid determined that for this past winter, working with a virtual pipeline energy company was a necessary short-term fix to help meet the energy needs of our customers through the use of this non-pipeline solution,” said John Vaughn, Vice President of Energy Procurement at National Grid. “NG Advantage demonstrated a strong commitment to safety and was poised to provide the relief for winter peaks when we needed it.”
Every cold snap requires additional energy to meet increasing demand. This is especially challenging given the constrained natural gas infrastructure in the Northeast. To prepare for winter months, National Grid was looking for temporary compressed natural gas injection services for relief during winter peaking times.
“As the temperatures dropped and customer demand for natural gas increased, National Grid turned to NG Advantage to help supplement their supply,” said NG Advantage CEO Rico Biasetti. “With our tremendous record on reliability, safety, and compliance, this utility knew they could count on NG Advantage to deliver. As we continue to grow throughout the Northeast, we will look to expand these and other relationships with utilities and power generators to ensure service reliability to their customers during the most adverse weather conditions.”
NG Advantage provides the economic and environmental benefits of clean-burning natural gas to power generators, gas utilities, and large industrial end users that do not have sufficient supply from pipeline natural gas. NG Advantage is the leading provider of “virtual pipeline” service in the country and pioneered trucking compressed natural gas using one of the largest “virtual pipeline” trailer fleets in the US. The company’s current customers include gas utilities – where NG Advantage provides pipeline pressure and capacity support – regional hospitals, paper mills, asphalt plants, food processors, industrial dry cleaners, and manufacturing facilities. Majority-owned by Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE), NG Advantage is expanding nationwide from its headquarters in Vermont.
MDN reached out to NG to see if they’ve selected an alternative location to the Binghamton hub. The official comment: “No news yet.” We’re still hopeful the company will set up a location in eastern Broome County, or neighboring Delaware County, which are the rumors we’ve heard.
Virtual Andy
Editor’s Note: Hooray for NG Advantage! They are, in fact, a virtual pipeline and if Andrew Cuomo successfully continues to oppose new New York pipelines, his state will have no choice but to go virtual. Sadly, though, Cuomo’s form of autocracy is no way to govern a state, especially one that goes cold in the winter and wants to keep the lights on and stay warm. More New York pipelines are needed. Especially critical, though, is to secure better leadership of the state, a prospect that seems just as especially unlikely.
Perhaps what New Yorkers need is a virtual governor; someone or something (maybe a computer named Virtual Andy) that will take over at critical moments and do what must be done while Governor Corruptocrat demagogues and takes graft. Essentially, that’s what happened when National Grid stepped up and made a deal with NG Advantage to supply gas during the cold snap wasn’t it? So, why not just formalize this arrangement? Andrew can talk the talk with his hand out, while virtual Andy makes the decisions.
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The post “But, Governor, I Thought We Didn’t Need Any More New York Pipelines” appeared first on Natural Gas Now.
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