Natural gas has become the trendy power-plant fuel in New England so quickly that it concerns the grid operator charged with keeping the region’s lights on. On the coldest days, natural gas is in high demand for both heating homes and running power plants, taxing pipelines that supply the region. This was a major problem during a frigid winter several years ago, and gas continues its rise. In 2000, natural gas-fired plants represented just 18% of New England’s system capacity, grid operator ISO New England said. Aided by low prices, gas grew to 44% by last year.“The markets have brought forward many new electric-generating units,” said Anne George, spokeswoman for the grid operator. “And for the most part they have been natural gas-fired generation.”
Owners of other kinds of plants keep shutting them down due to economic pressure: Massachusetts’ last coal-fired power plant just switched off, and one of three coal plants left in New England, in Connecticut, is slated to change to natural gas. The Pilgrim nuclear plant in Massachusetts is also scheduled to close. But gas pipelines have proved challenging to build in the region, and capacity hasn’t expanded much. The grid operator has a new plan, starting next year, to offer financial rewards to generators that perform well when the system is taxed, though it acknowledged this may not be enough on the coldest days.