Q: What role should natural…

Q: What role should natural gas play in supporting power system security and resiliency?
A: Natural gas should continue to play a supporting role in energy security including maintaining reliability and meeting peak electricity demand. A stable, reliable and affordable electrical grid is more important than ever. Even short disruptions can have significant impacts (e.g. loss of productivity when wi-fi/networks go down, economic impacts when retail sale systems are off-line).

Also, on an individual household level, natural gas can be an excellent resiliency option. In winter months, power outages can affect typical furnaces and heat pumps - but many gas fireplaces will still work (e.g. push button fire places etc.) which can be great in major winter storms/ice storms etc. and help residents be self-sufficient for the recommended 72-hour timeframe.

Q: What are the challenges and opportunities for enhanced energy efficiency, adoption of clean fuels and emission reduction methods to lower emissions in the natural gas system?
A: A big opportunity is to add more renewable natural gas into the existing pipelines over time. Since the gas mains/piping infrastructure is already in place, and there's no action needed by the consumer this could be a viable option to get to net-zero over the long term.