Natural Gas Reliability

Natural Gas - Enough for Over 100 Years

The natural gas utility is historically very reliable with very few outages. Several recent studies conclude that reliability of the utility natural gas supply will continue to increase due to unconventional gas supply, pipeline expansion and improvements in operations.

On site diesel storage can provide 24-72 hours run time: refueling via truck dependent on availability of fuel and infrastructure following an event (e.g. weather, crisis, etc).
Natural Gas pipeline can provide weeks to months of fuel.
Bi-Fuel generators (diesel/natural gas) extend run times from days to weeks by supplementing on-site fuel storage with natural gas.
MIT study for improving energy security recommended the use of natural gas and bi-fuel generation for defense facilities.
Natural Gas pipeline network is robust; historic outages are few.
Unlike diesel, natural gas has no fuel maintenance issues.

Natural Gas Regional Resource Assessment

* Total numbers, listed in trillion cubic feet (Tcf), account for traditional, coalbed and offshore natural gas resources
Source: Potential Gas Committee (2015) | Separately aggregated from all province data.

Natural Gas Reliability Articles

Natural gas pipelines, which transport more than one-fourth of the energy consumed in the U.S., are an essential part of the nation’s infrastructure. Transportation by pipeline is the safest form of energy delivery in the country.

The Pipeline Is Strong

There are currently more than 2.4 million miles of pipeline infrastructure in the country, and natural gas utilities are spending more than $22 billion each year to upgrade and expand service.

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The Natural Gas Underground Delivery System

The fundamental principle of the natural gas supply pipeline architecture — gathering, transmission and distribution — is gas flowing from higher to lower pressure.

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While the natural gas distribution system has demonstrated reliability in most regions of U.S. and Canada, there are some concerns for areas with high risk of earthquakes, landslides or mud slides, or major flooding events. The content shared on these pages respectfully acknowledges not all statements refer to all regions.