Electric and Natural Gas Distribution Systems. Presented by Brian Beam New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Division of Reliability & Security

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1 Electric and Natural Gas Distribution Systems Presented by Brian Beam New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Division of Reliability & Security 1

2 New Jersey's Energy Profile To meet the energy needs (BTUs consumed) of the State s 8.9 million residents, NJ relies on a complex regional energy infrastructure which is primarily divided into three interrelated subsectors: Electricity Natural gas Petroleum Percentage of Annual Energy Use by Fuel Type Petroleum from refineries, pipelines & overseas imports 45% Natural Gas from out-of-state imports 27% Electricity from coal 3% Interstate flows of electricity 9% Electricity from renewables 2% Electricity from nuclear power 14% 2

3 MAJOR ENERGY SUPPLY ASSETS Electric Power: Over 150 power producers with over 18,000 Megawatts of capacity. Natural Gas: Over 1,500 miles of interstate and intrastate transmission pipelines. Five interstate pipeline companies. Petroleum: Two refineries. 15 liquid pipelines delivering petroleum products to distribution centers, bulk terminal facilities and interconnecting with refineries. Out-of-state imports via rail, barge and pipeline. 3

4 NEW JERSEY S ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES (EDCs) PUBLIC SERVICE ELECTRIC & GAS (PSE&G) 2,247,440 CUSTOMERS 1,450 SQ MI JERSEY CENTRAL POWER & LIGHT 1,091,614 CUSTOMERS 3,256 SQ MI ATLANTIC CITY ELECTRIC 533,452 CUSTOMERS 2,760 SQ MI ROCKLAND ELECTRIC COMPANY 70,900 CUSTOMERS 207 SQ MI TOTAL ELECTRICITY CUSTOMERS 3.94 MILLION 4

5 UNDERSTANDING THE RESTORATION PROCESS What Influences Restoration? Damage Assessment Damage assessment needs to be precise and accurate. It s not enough to know that a wire is down. EDCs need boots on the ground. Resources Personnel and mutual aid need to be managed (foreign crews). System Design/Engineering Some system configurations require large groups of customers be shut down to repair a single component, whereas other system configurations allow a failure in one part of the system to be isolated from the rest of the load. Priorities Priorities are always shifting and need to be flexible. 5

6 ORDER OF RESTORATION & PRIORITIES Transmission Lines - High-voltage transmission lines serving thousands of customers are restored first. Power Plant Substations - Substations are brought online for power to reach local distribution. Emergency/critical customers Priority Services - Power is restored to emergency services and critical facilities including hospitals, police and fire, communications systems, etc. Transmission Lines Neighborhood Substation Large Service Areas Largest number of customers in the least amount of time are restored. Residential Customers - Once major repairs are completed, service lines to smaller groups of customers are restored. Neighborhood Distribution Transformer Businesses/larg e customers 6

7 Order of Restoration & Priorities Priorities Need to be Flexible Clearing lines, repairing damage and switching customers are core activities of the restoration process. After the damage assessment data is analyzed, areas are prioritized and crews dispatched to determine the best deployment strategy. This is not an exact science. Some factors that should go into making deployment decisions include: Intel from damage assessment process Number of customers out Critical facilities damaged Severity or extent of damage Access to damaged areas Geography and customer density Logistical support Order, speed and priority of restoration may appear inequitable to some. 7

8 A Typical Natural Gas Distribution Delivery System 1) Gas from production wells 2) Processing plant 3) Compressor Station 4) Underground storage 5) City Gate Station 6) LDC s Facilities a) LNG Plant b) Underground Storage c) Mains and Services d) Customer Meters.

9 New Jersey companies take natural gas off the intrastate and interstate pipelines into their natural gas distribution facilities. These transfer points are major gate stations monitoring gas pressures and flows.

10 natural gas in New Jersey is delivered by four local distribution companies.

11 Responding to natural gas emergencies is very different than the other utilities. If you lose your electric, telephone, cable or water service a local company will make repairs and re-establish service to an area basically by flipping a switch or re-opening valves.

12 Once they have the escaping gas under control, they must investigate every structure ensuring natural gas has not collected inside any building. If they have lost the natural gas on the mains or services, they must isolate every customer and their connection by separating them from their system.

13 Every main and service that has lost gas pressure will need to be re- pressurized and the air in their pipelines will be purged with natural gas. Every meter set will be purged of air. The customer must be home so they can introduce natural gas safely into their home. Each appliance in the home will need to be purged of air, and their equipment relit, which restores their service.

14 The other utilities have the ability to restore priority customers.

15 This is not the case in the gas industry. Natural gas needs to be introduced from a supply source and expanded into the pipeline. They must systematically introduce natural gas safely. Once the mains and services have the natural gas pressure restored, they could possibly address priority customers.

16 LESSONS LEARNED What should communities do in advance of, and during, a major storm? Full awareness of your municipality s energy profile electric, natural gas and emergency fuel needs. Constantly monitor weather forecasts. Become familiar with EDC websites. Make full use of the new information being posted per BPU requirements. Encourage residents to prepare for extended outages. Communicate with your EDC, gas utility, emergency management agencies and State officials. Ensure that backup generators are operating properly, fully fueled, and that you have a contingency plan for emergency fuel deliveries. Special medical needs customers should be coordinated with local OEM. Special needs may not equate to priority restoration. 16

17 PSE&G Outage Map (PSE&G Website) 17

18 PSE&G Outage Map 18

19 QUESTIONS?