Washington (Platts)--27Aug2013/222 pm EDT/1822 GMT

Even as more than a dozen regional power markets, state groups and others across the country launch studies on the interdependence of the gas and electric sectors, an official in the pipeline industry is urging them to avoid focusing on analysis at the expense of action.

"While these studies are important, it is not as though we can wait for a perfect answer," Don Santa, the president of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, said Monday at an Eastern Interconnection States' Planning Council meeting in Chicago.

EISPC is conducting a collaborative study of the long-term infrastructure requirements for the electric and natural gas industries in the Eastern Interconnection. The study is looking out 20 years, but there are decisions that need to be made in the near term that will affect the next 20 years, according to Santa.

The value of the study is as much in the process as in the outcome of the study, he said.

"I don't think you are going to find a silver bullet," Santa said.

John Moura, the director of reliability assessment at North American Electric Reliability Corp., emphasized the importance of gas-electric studies. There is a possibility for paralysis by analysis, but there is still a need to do studies to find the right solution, he argued.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission brought attention to the gas-electric issue when it launched a series of conferences on the reliability impacts of the power sector's growing reliance on gas for fuel.

FERC staff in March noted that regions all over the US are forming task forces, holding meetings and drafting studies to figure out whether the gas system is adequate to meet electricity needs.

According to the Western Interstate Energy Board, there are 20 recent or upcoming regional and national studies related to gas-electric interdependency.

However, FERC is already proposing solutions. The commission on Monday finished gathering comments on a proposal to expressly allow gas pipelines and electric transmission operators to share key non-public information to aid reliability.

--Kate Winston, catherine.winston@platts.com
--Edited by Derek Sands, derek.sands@platts.com

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