Extreme Weather Anomalies + Disruptions In Energy Supply Pipelines

It was a timely serendipitous coincidence yesterday at 07:30 in the morning for a presentation in front of a Mesa City Count Study Session about efforts to create and maintain an environmentally sustainable community.

What can I say? BETTER LATE THAN NEVER AT ALL... and without favoring any "special interests"

Meeting Details:

21-0207 Hear a presentation, discuss, and provide direction on the City’s efforts to create and maintain an environmentally sustainable community. 

Item 2-b Meeting Details and Attachment to open-and-read

File #:

21-0207

Type:

Presentation

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

City Council Study Session

On agenda:

2/18/2021

Title:

Hear a presentation, discuss, and provide direction on the City’s efforts to create and maintain an environmentally sustainable community.

Attachments:

1. Presentation

 

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From the City of Mesa Newsroom https://www.mesanow.org/news/public/article/2712 

PLEASE NOTE:

 

City of Mesa asking natural gas customers to conserve usage until February 21

February 18, 2021 at 12:51 pm

The recent extreme weather throughout most of the country has caused unprecedented levels of service interruptions to gas and electric utility customers throughout the southwest, especially in the state of Texas.

Gas utilities in Arizona rely heavily on natural gas produced in the parts of Texas where extremely cold weather, snow and ice have caused power outages and stopped the production and transportation of natural gas, which Texas heavily relies upon to generate electric energy.

The state of Arizona has been fortunate that enough gas producing wells and interstate pipelines in the Texas panhandle have maintained the ability to send natural gas west to New Mexico, Arizona and California.

The Governor of Texas has ordered natural gas producers in Texas not to export product out of the state until February 21st and instead sell it to providers within Texas.

This order could jeopardize the ability of the City of Mesa's gas utility to acquire sufficient supplies to meet its customers' requirements.

As a result, the City of Mesa is asking its natural gas customers to conserve and curtail any non-essential uses of natural gas for the next several days.

Some ways to conserve include:

Turning off indoor and outdoor fireplaces and fire pits

Turning off pool and spa heaters

Reducing use of gas fueled outdoor lighting (tiki torches)

Minimizing use of hot water

Reducing the time taken for showers

Reducing the temperature on the thermostat for your heater

Dressing warmly inside your home 

Minimizing the number of times doors are opened and closed.

 

 

The energy conserved, or that is not used, will allow the City to avoid purchasing gas supplies while prices are very high.

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ONE YEAR AGO

Renewable Energy Prices Hit Record Lows: How Can Utilities Benefit From Unstoppable Solar And Wind?

Contributor

Forbes | 2020-01-21

 

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Some States Are Setting 100% Goals

Others Have Some Targets > Note how Arizona stands out in between New Mexico and California

The bottom line: Renewables are now cheaper than the average cost to operate coal and average cost to build new natural gas. Plunging clean energy prices have been made possible by both R&D and the economic "learning curve" concept: As more of a technology is deployed, it becomes cheaper and more efficient.

Add it all up, and this trend isn’t going away anytime soon. Utilities can capitalize on this trend while reducing emissions, but policy helping manage the financial transition is key to encouraging a smooth and rapid transition.

Opportunities for utilities with the right policy support

Some utilities have embraced the transition to clean energy, while others are still running uneconomic coal plants and building new natural gas. But as energy economics and state targets shift from fossil fuel to clean energy, the utilities that stick with a business-as-usual approach do so at their own peril, increasing the risk of expensive stranded assets and higher consumer electricity prices.

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