BarryLaverty Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 Here's something heartwarming over our heat staying on... https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-pipeline-company-walks-back-010509052.html Corpus Christi Caller-Times Texas pipeline company walks back threat to cut off gas to power plants Mitchell Ferman Thu, January 20, 2022, 7:05 PM A pipeline company threatened to cut off natural gas to five power plants run by Vistra, whose Midlothian power plant is seen here, over a financial dispute — before agreeing Thursday to continue selling gas to Vistra for an undetermined length of time. After threatening to cut off fuel to roughly a third of the power plants owned by Texas’ biggest power generator, a major pipeline company said Thursday it will continue selling natural gas to the plants through the end of March. But the companies have still not resolved their underlying financial dispute stemming from last February’s deadly winter storm. Energy Transfer LP subsidiaries walked back their threat after Luminant, a Vistra Corp. subsidiary, on Wednesday asked state regulators to prevent the pipeline company from cutting off fuel to five Vistra power plants, which produce enough electricity to power 400,000 Texas homes, businesses and critical infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. The pipeline companies had told Vistra that gas would stop flowing to the power plants on Monday unless Vistra paid Energy Transfer $21.6 million that they claim Vistra owes them, according to Vistra’s complaint to the Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry. The “threat to terminate service in the middle of winter is illegal and grossly irresponsible and should be prohibited by this Commission,” Vistra said in the complaint. It called the move by Energy Transfer, run by billionaire Kelcy Warren, “a form of commercial extortion.” Energy Transfer responded Thursday in a short filing with the Railroad Commission, saying it would continue selling natural gas to Vistra on the spot market — a one-time open market transaction for immediate delivery of gas purchased “on the spot.” That would nullify the Monday deadline imposed by Energy Transfer. Vistra has been paying those spot market prices to Energy Transfer since Dec. 1, when its long-term contract for gas expired, and Energy Transfer said it would not negotiate another contract until Vistra paid the $21.6 million. For Vistra, paying spot prices means buying gas from Energy Transfer at between $15 and $25 per million British Thermal Units (BTUs), compared to the average national price of $3.91 per BTU in 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration. During last year’s winter storm — which caused the near-total collapse of the state’s power grid, left millions without power for days and caused hundreds of deaths — natural gas prices soared when a combination of freezing temperatures across the state and skyrocketing demand shut down natural gas facilities and power plants, which rely on each other to keep electricity flowing. Vistra spent approximately $1.5 billion for natural gas during the dayslong crisis, “twice its planned natural gas cost to fuel its entire Texas fleet for a full year,” the filing said. Vistra said in its filing that more than $600 million of that total was paid to Energy Transfer, “which is more than 96% of all amounts invoiced by [Energy Transfer].” While many companies lost money during the storm, Energy Transfer made $2.4 billion. The dispute between the energy giants had some elected officials expressing their concern publicly. Railroad Commission Chair Wayne Christian tweeted about it on Thursday: “I am paying close attention to this. @EnergyTransfer and @VistraCorp must come together to resolve this issue so that no Texans lose gas or electric service during cold weather. Do what’s right for Texans.” Shortly after, state Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, criticized Energy Transfer: “Gas suppliers should not be able to take the grid and consumers hostage as a means to prevail in their commercial disputes.” After Energy Transfer said Thursday that it would not cut off gas to Vistra, Christian added: "I am thankful both parties were able to quickly come together to reach a resolution that keeps Texans protected this winter." This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/01/20/texas-power-plants-gas-pipeline/. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngcoach123 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 So they resolved the issue and nothing happened? Good read if you feel like wasting your time like I do apparently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryLaverty Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 43 minutes ago, Youngcoach123 said: So they resolved the issue and nothing happened? Good read if you feel like wasting your time like I do apparently. NO, they didn't resolve the issue. They just postponed their threat until the end of March. Evidently you didn't read it closely. After threatening to cut off fuel to roughly a third of the power plants owned by Texas’ biggest power generator, a major pipeline company said Thursday it will continue selling natural gas to the plants through the end of March. But the companies have still not resolved their underlying financial dispute stemming from last February’s deadly winter storm. Energy Transfer LP subsidiaries walked back their threat after Luminant, a Vistra Corp. subsidiary, on Wednesday asked state regulators to prevent the pipeline company from cutting off fuel to five Vistra power plants, which produce enough electricity to power 400,000 Texas homes, businesses and critical infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngcoach123 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 So nothing happened? Okay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB2point0 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 Sounds like ET was price gouging during the storm and Vistra didn’t like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyZuco Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 I wonder what date in March this ends, since Winter ends on March 21st? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olduy Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 So if I don’t pay my bill will they give me two months just asking for a friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild74 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 9 hours ago, DB2point0 said: Sounds like ET was price gouging during the storm and Vistra didn’t like it. I would bet that ET had to go on the market to buy that gas since they are not a producer but a transmission pipeline company, sounds like the power plants where using more than was normal and ET had to purchase high priced spot market gas to keep up with demand. What the article doesn't say is who charged ET 25 dollars a thousand for the gas, that is your culprit not ET that is the way the market has always worked during high demand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB2point0 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 2 hours ago, Wild74 said: I would bet that ET had to go on the market to buy that gas since they are not a producer but a transmission pipeline company, sounds like the power plants where using more than was normal and ET had to purchase high priced spot market gas to keep up with demand. What the article doesn't say is who charged ET 25 dollars a thousand for the gas, that is your culprit not ET that is the way the market has always worked during high demand. Transmission companies can’t own the gas in the pipes. According to FERC, you are transmission or midstream. If they’re adjusting the prices, they’re not a transmission company. Sounds like it’s midstream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild74 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 17 minutes ago, DB2point0 said: Transmission companies can’t own the gas in the pipes. According to FERC, you are transmission or midstream. If they’re adjusting the prices, they’re not a transmission company. Sounds like it’s midstream I worked for a midstream company and we gathered the gas from the producers and shipped it to the transmission company I think it is the producers, they say where the gas goes. When I worked for Centerpoint we had many connections to transmission pipelines so the producers would chose us as the midstream company to process and deliverer their gas to the market that they chose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB2point0 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Just now, Wild74 said: I worked for a midstream company and we gathered the gas from the producers and shipped it to the transmission company I think it is the producers, they say where the gas goes. When I worked for Centerpoint we had many connections to transmission pipelines so the producers would chose us as the midstream company to process and deliverer their gas to the market that they chose. I work for a Transmission and we can’t own the gas in our pipes. We just charge for throughout/volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild74 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 3 minutes ago, DB2point0 said: I work for a Transmission and we can’t own the gas in our pipes. We just charge for throughout/volume. Look to marketing they are the deal makers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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