Oil dealers call on Lamont to end natural gas conversion incentives

The head of a Connecticut trade group that represents independent oil dealers in the state is urging Gov. Ned Lamont to end a program that offers incentives to consumers who convert their homes to run on natural gas.

Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, pointed to a Nov. 5 press release when Lamont said, “labor and supply chain shortages, plus weather disruptions ... have also hampered production.”

“Demand has now returned, faster than expected, and production is not keeping pace, leading to price increases,” the press release said in part. “Severe weather could make matters worse, by driving up demand for natural gas, which in turn could compromise the reliability of the region’s electricity grid.”

In response, Herb sent a letter to Lamont this week.

“Since you agree that inadequate natural gas supply may compromise the electric grid, now is the time to do something about it,” Herb wrote in his letter to Lamont. “The people of Connecticut need more than the advanced notice you provided them about potentially losing power and heat; they need action! If the lights go out this winter and people are unable to heat their homes, it’s in part a homemade problem brought to you by the state of Connecticut.”

Herb said his letter to Lamont regarding a natural gas conversion moratorium “is an attempt to connect the dots.”

Lamont’s administration did not respond to a request for comment.

The majority of New England’s power plants run on natural gas. On Tuesday, 52 percent of the power generated in the region came from natural gas-fired power plants, according to regional grid operator ISONew England’s website.

But while the residential natural gas market operates on what are known as “firm” delivery contracts, the same cannot be said for power plants, which typically operate on delivery that can be interrupted, in part because it is cheaper than a firm contract. Firm delivery contracts mean the supply of natural gas can not be interrupted.

The use of natural gas for electric generation in the region has increased from about 15 percent in 2000 to over 50 percent today, according to ISO-NE, which projects that demand for natural gas for use by power plants will grow to more than 60 percent by 2025.

Matthew Kakley, a spokesperson for the based grid operator based in Holyoke, Mass., said ISO-NE officials have “long noted that the region faces challenges during prolonged periods of cold weather, as pipeline constraints limit the availability of natural gas for electric generation.”

The region is at the end of a natural gas pipeline with limited capacity that brings the fuel from the Marcellus Shale fields of the Midwest and from supplies in the Gulf of Mexico.

“This year, there are additional concerns about the availability of liquefied natural gas and oil, given the high prices for those fuels globally and supply chain issues,” Kakley said. ISO-NE is scheduled to release its winter power outlook early next month, he said, and at that time, “we’ll be able to provide more details.”

Mitch Gross, a spokesperson for Eversource Energy, said company officials “remain confident in our ability to provide the power our customers expect — this winter and for the foreseeable future.” Eversource is Connecticut’s largest electric distribution company with 1.2 million customers and also has about 229,000 natural gas customers.

“Natural gas has and continues to play an important role in carbon reduction and will continue to be needed while renewable energies gradually come online,” Gross said. “We fully support a move to renewables and believe we all must do everything we can to help the state meet its carbon reduction goals. That’s why we’re working on a wide range of programs and initiatives every day to empower a clean energy future — from energy efficiency and electric vehicles to offshore wind, solar and battery storage.”

Officials with Avangrid could not be reached for comment.

State Sen. Norman Needleman, D-Essex, said whether Herb’s predictions materialize depends largely on how cold the weather gets this winter in Connecticut. Needleman is cochairman of the Connecticut legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee.

“The vulnerability is weather-based,” Needleman said. “But there is a risk and it’s a risk that the public should know about. We shouldn’t be assuming things won’t happen; even though we are in a different situation, look at what happened in Texas last winter.”

Needleman said officials with Eversource and the two natural gas utilities that are owned by Orangebased Avangrid — Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern Connecticut Gas — have assured their rate at which they are converting customers to natural gas “will have a minimal impact” on the ability to deliver electricity.

“But both companies have a duplicate interest in that they sell both electricity and natural gas,” he said. “I’m praying they are right and we don’t have a cold winter. People will complain if their energy costs get too expensive, but they will kill you if there are not adequate supplies.”