In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the vulnerability and fragility of our current electric grid has once again been showcased in an unfavorable light.  With Long Island Power Authority originally having outages for over 90% of its customers, and some places in New Jersey and New York still without power, it’s clear that we have some real problems here.

But what about the gas grid?  It’s underground, pervasive, and has a reputation for reliability.  What are its flaws, if any?

It turns out, there may be a few.   And some have to do with a dependency on the electric grid.  A look at the FERC/NERC Staff report on the Outages and Curtailments During the Southwest Cold Weather Event of February 1-5, 2011 (pretty sexy title) highlights some potential deficiencies that need to be addressed not just in the Southwest but across the country.  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) commissioned this report in the wake of the February 2 rolling blackout event in the Southwest last year.  This event occurred as a consequence of extreme cold weather – some 40 degrees colder than normal in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.  Within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas jurisdiction (ERCOT), 210 of 550 electric generating units went down, were derated (didn’t produce power at 100%), or failed to start.  In order to avoid a massive blackout, ERCOT enacted a controlled rolling blackout affecting 3.2 million customers.  The other states ran similar programs, and taken together 4.4 million customers were affected.

What does this have to do with reliability of the gas transmission and distribution system?  A couple of things, as it turns out:

via We’ve Seen The Electric Grid At Its Worst: How About The Gas Network? – Forbes.