Natural gas plant guarding Northeast from winter blackouts is at risk
A natural gas terminal that's been operating for more than half a century has been a crucial safeguard against blackouts when bone-chilling cold hits the U.S. Northeast. In less than five months, it's slated to shut forever.
The Everett gas import plant near Boston is at risk of closing in May, coinciding with the retirement of its biggest customer, the Mystic power station. Both facilities are owned by Constellation Energy Corp., which has said Mystic is uneconomic to operate under most conditions.
Everett's closure would jeopardize the reliability of the region's power system in extreme weather, according to the nation's top energy regulators. Because New England lacks enough pipelines to get gas from other parts of the country, it relies on Everett when heating demand spikes. The terminal receives cargoes of liquefied natural gas via tankers, mostly from Trinidad.
The facility's shutdown underscores the challenges facing America's grid as the transition to cleaner energy accelerates and climate change triggers wilder weather. While Mystic may ultimately be replaced by wind farms and solar projects, it's not clear whether those resources — and the battery storage needed to back them up — will be built quickly enough to prevent power shortfalls.
“Everett was a key resource providing additional gas supplies to New England during extreme cold,” said Gary Cunningham, director of market research at energy risk management firm Tradition Energy.
Constellation is in negotiations for supply contracts that would allow it to keep Everett open, but nothing has been finalized and “time is of the essence,” said Mark Rodgers, a spokesperson for the company. Meanwhile, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation are sounding the alarm.
“Ensuring reliability and affordability could become challenging in the face of a significant winter event,” FERC Chairman Willie Phillips and NERC Chief Executive Officer James Robb said in a joint statement in November.