Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Lng topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Enbridge’s LNG facility operated successfully during 2024–25 season; used for supply shortfalls and turnover
Summary
Enbridge said its liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility reached a historic full tank, supported send‑outs during supply shortfalls, and may be used selectively for price events depending on duration and seasonality.
SALT LAKE CITY — Enbridge Gas Utah reported that its LNG plant successfully liquefied, stored and dispatched gas during the 2024 season, including use during a February supply shortfall and a later turnover dispatch to meet BTU specification and peaking needs.
Dan McDonald, Enbridge Gas Utah, told the commission that the company began liquefying in April, filled the LNG tank “throughout the season,” and that the facility “performed as expected” during two send‑out events. He added, “we injected 10,200,000 gallons over the course of 2024,” and that the plant reached a full tank level for the first time in facility history.
McDonald and colleagues described a February 13 event in which upstream supply allocations and timing left Enbridge short on available physical molecules that day. McDonald said the company was notified late in the day and the LNG plant was started quickly — within about 15 minutes — and ran at roughly half rated capacity to meet immediate need. Will (last name not specified in transcript) clarified the February call “was not a pricing related event. It was not a physical event” and that pipeline allocations and timing, not facility performance, drove the dispatch.
Company staff explained the LNG resource is primarily a supplier‑reliability tool that also gives Enbridge flexibility to manage aquifer withdrawals — using the LNG backstop enabled the company to operate aquifers differently than it would have before the LNG plant existed. Enbridge staff described how operational discretion guides whether LNG is used to offset high spot prices: the company evaluates price levels, forecast duration, where the season sits (early vs late winter), and system risk. As Kelly Van Paul (Enbridge) put it, “it depends” and noted decisions involve gas supply, regulatory, and business‑unit stakeholders.
Enbridge reported the tank was at about 43% at the time of the conference and planned to begin liquefying soon to refill the tank. Staff said a typical fill window to bring the tank from its then‑level to full would be roughly three months at planned rates, and that Enbridge is deliberating whether to perform fall vaporization testing again.
Ending: Enbridge described the LNG plant as proven operationally and useful both to manage short supply interruptions and to provide flexibility in managing price volatility and aquifer usage; decisions to deploy the asset for price mitigation are made case‑by‑case.
