BENTON, Ky. — In the small city of Benton, residents were asked this week to turn thermostats down a degree or two to limit their strain on natural gas usage.
What You Need To Know
- Benton residents asked to turn thermostats down a degree or two to limit strain on natural gas usage
- Rare winter storm knocked out power to millions of Texans and caused energy systems to freeze
- Pipelines from Texas send gas northward to states bordering Canada, fueling cities and towns in western Kentucky along the way
This was no "green" initiative, but instead the result of a crisis 1,000 miles away in Texas. A rare winter storm knocked out power to millions of Texans and caused energy systems — including natural gas rigs — to freeze. Pipelines from Texas send gas northward to states bordering Canada, fueling cities and towns in western Kentucky along the way.
Benton Gas, which distributes the Texan product, bought enough reserve to last five years. But, as System Office Manager Jessica Scillian explained, there is no physical gas in Benton's reserve. It is merely an agreement between Benton and the producers to buy gas at an agreed-upon price for five years.
Scillian, along with city leadership, agreed to issue an emailed request for residents to turn thermostats down "to 70 or below" and to "limit unnecessary natural gas use" to lessen the burden on the system.
Still, Scillian is not worried about running out of fuel. The request, she said in a Wednesday interview, was primarily made so Benton would not need to find alternative sources for fuel on the open market. Outside the original deal with the Texas suppliers, Benton's residents would be at the mercy of a market price rapidly increasing due to supply shortages.
Scillian said the response from residents has been "amazing" and made a noticeable impact.
"That made all the difference in the world," she said. "So, we did not have to issue an outage, we did not have to turn anybody off, and we did not have to go and buy any of the expensive gas."
Bill Magnus, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said in an interview this week with Spectrum News reporters that Texas customers still in the dark and cold should see relief soon.
"I don’t want to guarantee something that isn’t realistic," he said. "But I think we’re gonna be making great progress."
Temperatures are expected to rise above freezing on Friday in Austin. They could reach the 60s by next week.
Rising thermometers in Texas are likely to bring blood pressure down in western Kentucky.