Here Comes Gas

Exec Sees Power Opportunities

BY MARTIN ROSENBERG   Editor-in-chief, EnergyBiz

Natural gas utilities are getting ready to challenge their power counterparts for business. That is the view of Gregg Kantor, NW Natural’s president and CEO. He expressed his buoyant views of the future of the gas side of the industry in a recent roundtable EnergyBiz conducted with gas utility chief executive officers. Kantor addresses microgrids, hailed as a potential tool to achieve grid security, the subject of the EnergyBiz Securing Power Forum in Washington, March 3-4.

ENERGYBIZ: What is the potential for your companies to help develop microgrids? Can you start a non-utility business and actually go after that business?

Kantor: Absolutely. There are many states that offer significant tax credits. There are lots of problems and higher prices around the country that create opportunities to do combined heat and power units.

ENERGYBIZ: What new policies are needed?

Kantor: The great thing about where this industry stands right now is that we don't need a lot of policy changes. We've got a product that is affordable, clean and domestic. It's a triple bottom line. It sells itself. From a policy standpoint, what we really need is to make sure there’s a level playing field. There are policies that are still trying to catch up with the new reality of the gas resource that exists. In our service territory, we had some of the cheapest electricity for decades because of the federal hydropower system. Today, throughout most of our service territory, natural gas is now cheaper to heat a home with.

 ENERGYBIZ: Will use of gas-powered vehicles grow in the years to come?

Kantor: I think they will eclipse EVs. The science around batteries is stalled out. It's going to happen quicker than people think

ENERGYBIZ: Where is the shale gas revolution headed?

Kantor: This is not a static revolution. This is like computers. The shale gas revolution is today where computers were in the late 1980s. This is evolving very rapidly. You can't throw a dart at it and say, “That's where we are and that's where we are going to be.”

ENERGYBIZ: Gas-fueled generation of power is growing fast. Does that raise any concerns?         

Kantor: We continue to worry about the ability of the pipeline system in our region to be able to handle the kinds of loads placed upon it not only from electricity generation, but also from industrial facilities. We've got companies converting to natural gas. Over the last two years, we've hooked up 36 new large commercial and industrial customers. Prior to that, the typical number of new large industrial customers was about five a year. The change demonstrates the recognition of the economic incentive that natural gas at these prices provides to a very broad range of industries.

ENERGYBIZ: You lack adequate pipeline infrastructure?

Kantor: We've got a pipeline problem. We've got to figure out as a region how to invest in new pipeline capacity. You don't build reserves into your pipeline. We need the region to agree that another pipeline is necessary. It's a big issue.

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