Frigid Temperatures Prompt Northern Natural Gas to Call SOLs

FREMONT – In Fremont City Administrator Brian Newton’s Weekly Update, he discussed System
Overrun Limitations that have been implemented on Northern Natural Gas pipeline customers across the Midwest due to the cold weather.
Since Friday, February 5, Northern Natural Gas (NNG) has called for daily System Overrun Limitations (SOL) for most of NNG’s pipeline customers. According to NNG, the lower than normal system-weighted temperatures are putting stresses on NNG’s natural gas pipelines across the Midwest.
The picture above shows the extent of NNG’s pipelines extending from the gas fields in Texas to the middle of Minnesota and Wisconsin. When NNG calls a SOL, pipeline customers must NOT use more natural gas than what they have nominated for the day or they face severe penalties.
For example, by 7 am each day, Ed Patchen (the Fremont Power Plant Statistical Technician) estimates the amount of natural gas customers in Fremont will consume for the following day. This estimate is submitted to NNG, so they know how much of their pipeline capacity that Fremont will consume that day. When NNG calls a SOL, Fremont is held to its estimate or the city will be faced with stiff penalties by NNG if it is exceeded.
Cold temperatures drive natural gas usage to record levels, especially with the growth in new homes and industry seen in Fremont. Part of the city’s planning process each year is to estimate the natural gas usage on peak days and compare it to Fremont’s contracted share of pipeline capacity with NNG.
This year, the city submitted a bid in NNG’s open season to purchase extra pipeline capacity. NNG awarded Fremont with 2,849 dekatherms/day of winter (November through March) capacity, starting in November 2022, for approximately $2 million. With this extra capacity, Fremont will have up to 21,969 dekatherms/day of winter capacity through NNG as well as some extra capacity through its gas marketer British Petroleum.
What City Administrator Newton explained only represents one-half of the requirements to serve Fremont’s customers with natural gas— that is ensuring the city has adequate pipeline capacity from NNG.
The other half of the equation is buying the physical gas molecules to sell to customers. Newton stated that it is also a complicated process and he plans to discuss it in a future weekly update.