December NG prices spike in Boston
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Lake Girl
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From a quick read of the article, it looks like electric generation of NG plants will increase too
Thanks for the link! Mods please feel free to move if this is in the wrong forum.
Central Maine has become a hotbed of natural gas expansion by not one but TWO gas companies! I work in the utility services industry and have never seen a situation where two competing gas companies overlap service like we are currently seeing in Augusta, ME population of a whopping 18,000 people. One of the Companies is a Maine based company, Maine Natural Gas- owned by Iberdrola (large Spanish Utility), the other is based out of Colorado- Summit Natural Gas. MNG's strategy was to start in Augusta and grow more organically with demand, Summit came in with an aggressive $350 million regional growth plan.
In my opinion the City, Region & State completely blew this by going out to bid separately and awarding split contracts. In my opinion this will become a huge safety concern with parallel mains being run on the same streets and services being bored over each others mains. Being familiar with the industry and seeing numerous homes explode in Southern New England I am concerned that the aggressive construction schedule may have led to construction shortcuts that many of these out of state crews working for Summit Natural Gas will never even think twice about.
One of these crews actually was thrown off the build out for allegedly using at least 62 improper joints, which makes me feel a bit better about the Inspectors on the project, but why would it take so long to figure this out, and how many more are out there? There has already been an "explosion" on SNG's during pressure testing.
I feel fairly comfortable with the MNG system that has been installed by some very competent Maine based contractors, but Summit's system scares me to death based on what I have seen and heard about their contractors.
I will stick to pellets for now and for the foreseeable future. END OF RANT!
Having more NG is a decent thing - but the Gold Rush mentality which seems to be causing everything from explosions to "drill now and ask questions later"....plus the fact that many of the landowners are NOT profiting (prices have been too low), concerns me......
The so-called "spike" in gas prices leaves them today at about 20% of the cost of heating oil......if I have my calcs right. IMHO, they have a long way to go up, which would be a good thing for producers, infrastructure and policy in general....
NG=$4.20 or so per million BTU (or equiv of 7 gallons of oil)
Oil - $3.00 approx futures prices - so $21 worth of oil = $4.20 of NG.
The so-called "spike" in gas prices leaves them today at about 20% of the cost of heating oil......if I have my calcs right. IMHO, they have a long way to go up, which would be a good thing for producers, infrastructure and policy in general....
NG=$4.20 or so per million BTU (or equiv of 7 gallons of oil)
Oil - $3.00 approx futures prices - so $21 worth of oil = $4.20 of NG.
I agree that having access to NG is a good economic boost for the region, however I feel that because of the way contracts were awarded and the aggressiveness of construction schedules that safety has been greatly compromised, I hope that I am wrong and that prices stay at the advertised levels.
The second I pony up and either connect (if they make it available) or buy a tank, prices are going to skyrocket. lol As much as I want to get off electric for my cook stove, it's not worth the investment to change over everything and get a tank, and lines plumbed in the house....
my next house is going to be full solar. :D a guy can dream right?
my next house is going to be full solar. :D a guy can dream right?
Lake Girl
Moderator
I hear you about the # of improper joints 
and tossing the crew off the job.
We had an NG explosion at a local school gymnasium... thankfully way after hours. The department came very close to losing two firefighters as they were just going to attempt entry.
Determination of cause concluded that prior exterior yard work at the school likely caused shifting in the line that lead to the leak.
and tossing the crew off the job. We had an NG explosion at a local school gymnasium... thankfully way after hours. The department came very close to losing two firefighters as they were just going to attempt entry.
Determination of cause concluded that prior exterior yard work at the school likely caused shifting in the line that lead to the leak.
Lake Girl
Moderator
Our dream too... just not sure if we'll get there. Our variation is an earth-berm passive solar with a pellet stove and solar array. We have the lot with the southern exposure on a natural hill. Money tied up in condo in Winnipeg so the kids can go to university.
My sister has the dream house
The Tierson'shttp://www.solarandwindfx.com/directions2005.htm
Double walls, open concept passive solar with concrete mass stonework chimney for the wood stove. Solar array to the rear right, their large chunk of the hill to the right. They added another solar array this year. Stove wood comes from the property. Neighbor wouldn't let them bring the power lines across their property so this is the result
Neighbor did them a favor...Attachments
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