South Carolina’s effort to build a large natural gas plant between Columbia and Charleston has been justified as a way to meet future energy needs.
But testimony filed with the federal government last year shows that solar power and battery storage are cutting into the need for natural gas — and critics of the proposed natural gas plant say that’s further evidence against a facility that could cost ratepayers up to $2 billion.
Government programs and initiatives, designed to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, have helped improve the renewable energy market at the expense of natural gas, according to testimony with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The testimony is significant because it came from representatives of a company that provides pipelines to transport natural gas, instead of from opponents of the large plant in South Carolina. The testimony was offered as part of Carolina Gas Transmission’s efforts to raise rates.
The pipeline representatives said improvements in solar energy and the rising success of batteries is expected to reduce the need for natural gas from Carolina Gas Transmission, a pipeline company that serves South Carolina and Georgia.
“Market forces arising from the dramatic declines in the prices of wind and solar power and battery storage are likely to reduce the demand for’’ the pipeline company’s services, consultant Alexander Kirk said in written testimony to the FERC.
Kirk’s Washington, D.C., energy consulting firm offers technical and policy assistance to the natural gas pipeline industry.
Kirk’s statement is among multiple points made in Carolina Gas Transmission’s effort to raise rates for operation of its pipeline in South Carolina and Georgia. The company says it has had to spend money during the past 12 years for pipeline expansion projects, upgrades, maintenance and cyber security. Among its pipeline expansion projects was one in Richland County about nine years ago.
Natural gas has become increasingly popular as a replacement for burning coal to make energy. It is less polluting than coal and is abundant for use by power companies.
But like other fossil fuels, natural gas still produces pollution and greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, according to .the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Environmentalists say its use should be ramped down as non-polluting renewable energy becomes more reliable.
Carolina Gas Transmission’s rate increase, if approved by the FERC, would largely impact Dominion Energy since the utility is Carolina Gas Transmission’s main customer. It was not known this week how a rate increase would affect individual power bills. The company’ has been negotiating on a final rate proposal this spring.
But Kirk and Brian Wilson, vice president of commercial pipeline services with a Carolina Gas Transmission subsidiary, said federal and local efforts to sharply reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 2050 will put pressure on the gas industry.
Such targets to cut emissions will result in less use of fossil fuels, of which natural gas is one, they said.
Columbia, Charleston, Greenville and other cities have pledged to reduce their carbon footprint by 2050, as have utilities like Dominion Energy and Duke Energy, the major investor-owned power companies in South Carolina.
Wilson’s testimony said meeting those goals could mean “natural gas consumption would be required to significantly decline by 2050 or sooner.’’
Their testimony follows a report last winter by consultants for the state Public Service Commission that questioned the need for the 2,000-megawatt natural gas plant in the Canadys community of rural Colleton County.
The report by PA Consulting urged more examination of solar and battery storage before moving ahead with a gas plant. Perfecting batteries to store solar energy after the sun goes down is seen as a key to the future of renewable energy.
The PA Consulting report, which focused on state-owned Santee Cooper’s participation with Dominion Energy in the natural gas plant, said Santee should “refrain from making any definitive and binding commitments’’ to the gas plant while more studies are done.
Opponents of building an expansive natural gas plant said the testimony on behalf of a pipeline company provides insight about how the gas industry sees renewable energy and batteries affecting the need for natural gas.
Pipeline companies “are reading the tea leaves correctly. They know their business is going to change over time,’’ said Anne Tyler, who is with the Citizens Climate Lobby, a national organization with a Beaufort County chapter.
Legislators have been debating a massive energy bill that would make it easier for Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy to build a 2,000-megawatt gas plant in Colleton County.
Many of them say the state is growing rapidly and South Carolina should move aggressively to meet future energy needs. Paving the way for a large natural gas plant is a cornerstone of that strategy, backers of the legislation say.
The bill, however, ran into major opposition in the S.C. Senate, endangering its chances of passing before the Legislative session ends next week. The House, which had approved the bill previously, voted Wednesday to attach the legislation to several other bills, raising hope that some version of the measure could pass before the session ends.
State Rep. Bill Sandifer, a major supporter of the energy bill and a booster of the state’s utilities, said a natural gas plant is a clean, efficient way to generate power, when compared to polluting coal plants, which produce more carbon than natural gas. Solar and other forms of alternative energy are not as reliable, he said. Critics note that solar energy is not available at night.
“There are detractors in no matter what we do,’’ Sandifer, R-Oconee said of gas plant opponents. He told House members that it takes far more space to produce power from solar panels than a natural gas plant.
Despite that, opponents of the proposed Canadys natural gas plant said South Carolina is rushing to approve the facility without proper scrutiny. They make the point that solar energy has taken off in the state, and batteries to store the energy when it is dark are becoming a reality.
The Carolina Gas Transmission testimony reflects that, they said.
“”It shows more of the risk with the plant,’’ said John Brooker, who tracks energy issues for the Conservation Voters. of South Carolina, an environmental group.
Former state Public Service Commission member Tom Ervin said the state could be stuck with an expensive facility that may not be used for its expected 50-year life. Opponent of the proposed natural gas plant say the state should seek to use a greater mix of energy sources than putting so much reliance on a large plant.
“The transition to other energy resources is going to occur in the next 15 to 20 years,’’ said Ervin, who quit the PSC this year so he could speak out on the energy legislation. “As utilities transition from fossil fuels to renewables and other sources of energy, there’s not going to be a market for natural gas and certainly not for gas plants that have outlived their usefulness.’’
Carolina Gas Transmission, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, did not directly address questions from The State newspaper about renewable energy’s potential impact on the gas business. But a spokeswoman did say that “natural gas is the ideal partner for intermittent renewables.’’
Officials with Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper, which would jointly participate in the Colleton County plant, declined comment.
Questions about whether solar and batteries will diminish the need for a large natural gas plant at Canadys are surfacing amid other concerns. New federal greenhouse gas rules that were recently finalized could make if difficult to run a major natural gas plant at full capacity.