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During peak demand, FortisBC's natural gas system delivered double the energy of BC Hydro

Natural gas demand soars

FortisBC’s natural gas system delivered just under double the energy of the entire BC Hydro network on Friday when the province was at its coldest.

The private utility says its gas system delivered 21,763 megawatts of energy at the highest point of demand on Jan. 12 as temperatures plummeted. That is nearly 400 megawatts (1.8%) more than the previous natural gas demand record on Dec. 22, 2022.

BC Hydro, for comparison, delivered 11,300 megawatts of electricity on Friday night, a record for the Crown corporation, which was also able to export 200 megawatts of power to Alberta’s strained grid. BC Hydro says its previous record high was 10,977 megawatts, set in December 2022.

“Customers rely on both the gas and electric systems working together to deliver the energy they need to keep their homes and businesses safe and warm during times like this,” said FortisBC in a statement.

“To meet peak demand, an energy system either needs to have the ability to produce enough energy to meet it or have the ability to store energy to use when energy needs increase. An advantage of the gas system is its ability to easily and affordably store large volumes of energy, whether in dedicated gas storage, such as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities or even within the lines themselves.”

The B.C. government has plans to slowly choke off access to FortisBC’s natural gas system as a part of the CleanBC climate plan, which includes a ban on natural gas space and water heating in new homes by 2030. The independent BC Utilities Commission last month rejected a $327 million FortisBC proposal to expand its natural gas network in the Okanagan, citing the possibility of declining demand due to the CleanBC plan.

BC Hydro last year imported 20% of the electricity its served.

Meanwhile, FortisBC’s electrical utility in the Southern Interior reached peak hour delivery on Jan. 13 at 818 megawatts, slightly above the night of Jan. 12 peak of 803 megawatts. FortisBC’s all-time electrical demand peak came on Dec. 22, 2022 at 835 megawatts.

FortisBC says to meet climate action goals, B.C. should be leveraging existing gas infrastructure to carry low-carbon options such as hydrogen and "renewable natural gas" that is captured from landfills.



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