Apr 17, 2025 New FERC-NERC Report Details Increased Resiliency of Natural Gas Systems During Recent Winter Weather Events
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 17, 2025 – The Natural Gas Council (NGC), whose members represent the full natural gas value chain, welcomed a new joint report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Corporation recognizing the strong performance of the nation’s natural gas system during recent winter weather events and periods of record demand.
The report finds that the natural gas market was able to meet record demand, with natural gas infrastructure – including wellheads, gathering, processing, pipeline transportation, and local gas distribution – performing well during the January 2025 arctic events. Moreover, the natural gas system appears to have experienced fewer disruptions than during Winter Storms Uri (2021) and Elliott (2022) and did not have widespread freezing, mechanical, or production loss issues. The report highlights several factors that contributed to the overall performance, including advanced preparations, incorporating lessons learned from past storms, diversity of fuel supplies, and natural gas storage. More specifically:
- “Natural gas entities appear to be showing continuous improvement from prior winter storm experiences on their cold weather performance, preparations, and communications.”
- “Not only were the production losses lower compared to prior winter storms, but the duration of the losses was much shorter compared to prior winter storms.”
- “Interstate natural gas pipelines appear to have issued more proactive and more frequent notices, including Operational Flow Orders (OFOs) to communicate with their customers and the electric industry stakeholders; pipeline personnel also participated in their situational awareness calls to better coordinate on natural gas inventories, compressor station availability, and pipeline readiness.”
- “VACAR South noted it benefited from the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which reached full capacity in January 2025 for the first time since it became operational in June 2024. VACAR South indicated that the pipeline played a crucial role in maintaining reliable electric supply during this high demand period by sustaining stable pipeline pressure.”
The report also highlighted how the natural gas system supported record-breaking demand of over 150 Bcf/day at the peak of Storm Enzo. This number is 9.5% above peak consumption during the 2014 Polar Vortex. Also, the report shows that during Winter Storm Enzo, natural gas generation provided a record additional 122 GW above what has typically been observed for typical winter hours (291 GW compared to 169 GW), more than any of the previous winter storms.
The results of the FERC-NERC report are consistent with the findings from PJM’s recently released winter assessment. PJM stated in its operational assessment that the “[g]eneral consensus is that the upstream gas sector (producers, gatherers, and processors) has ramped up their winter preparedness and equipment winterization efforts since Winter Storm Elliott.
The U.S. natural gas market began 2025 in record territory: January was the coldest in more than three decades, based on gas-weighted heating degree days (HDDs). As of January 28, cumulative HDDs for the lower-48 states totaled 982, making it the fifth highest since 1982 and the highest since 1994. Additionally, the recent Arctic blast pushed lower-48 natural gas demand to an all-time high. (See AGA’s Natural Gas Market Indicators for January 30 here.)
The NGC would also like to recognize the efforts of regional operators that took steps to provide gas fired generators with a better opportunity to prepare and make their natural gas arrangements in advance of the winter weather through early commitments and improvements in load forecasting. Actions that increase the ability of generators to procure supply in advance of winter events greatly enhances generator fuel availability.
Although the increased focus on natural gas system reliability has been very successful, as evidenced by the performance outlined in this report, the U.S. energy system continues to be stretched to its limits. Natural gas infrastructure will need to stay apace to continue to reliably meet growing demand from AI data centers, crypto mining, and electrification.
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The Natural Gas Council was formed in 1992, uniting all sectors of the natural gas industry to work together toward common goals. The five full members of the Council — the American Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Natural Gas Supply Association — collectively represent nearly all the companies that produce, transport and distribute natural gas consumed in the United States. Leadership of the NGC rotates annually.
