NRG visits Beantown for the LDC Gas Forum Northeast

NRG was proud to be a sponsor for the 28^th Annual LDC Gas Forum Northeast, which took place this summer in Boston. The event drew more than 500 industry professionals from all areas of the natural gas value chain and provided a vibrant forum for discussing current issues and emerging trends in the Northeast natural gas markets.

The focus of this year’s forum was energy transition and how to address challenges like supply security, affordability, and the ability to offer lower carbon energy alternatives in the region. NRG leaders moderated panels covering some of the details under each of these topics.

Tom Thackston, Director of Origination, moderated a 4-speaker panel discussion around the role of natural gas infrastructure in ensuring reliable, affordable, low-carbon energy for the future. The panel examined how we can realistically achieve a low-carbon energy future by intelligently leveraging natural gas in the energy mix.

“Natural gas supply is plentiful, reliable, and affordable with an infrastructure that offers great opportunities for innovation,” said Thackston, adding that these opportunities include repurposing elements such as carbon capture, H2 blending, and certified gas delivery to achieve low-carbon goals. Additionally, natural gas pipelines in the Northeast today are investing to reduce emissions through modernization programs that replace compressors and update controls.

Rock Graham, Manager of Natural Gas Origination and Producer Services, moderated a panel of three speakers covering the raft of new natural gas products marketed as Responsibly Sourced Gas (RSG) or certified gas. The panelists included a certified producer, a leading independent environmental data and software company, as well as blockchain technology company — all of which are active in the market. They discussed how companies are differentiating themselves by independently tracking and collecting a plethora of data, as well as how companies are transacting certified gas while ensuring efficacy.

“The natural gas industry is putting forth a strong effort to proactively reduce emissions and demonstrate transparency. Monitoring and certification are two examples of the eagerness to be transparent and data driven,” said Graham. “Bringing this added layer of fidelity to the market is key to gaining industry buy-in and willingness to participate in a burgeoning new market trend,” he said adding that soon, the full lifecycle analysis will be measured from wellhead to burnertip— enabling the natural gas industry to comply with growing low-carbon standards.

Along with ESG (environmental, social, and governance) transparency, “transactability” was also a key topic here. A better understanding of how to purchase and apply certified gas to a buyer’s ESG metrics is critical to market development, Graham said, adding that certified gas is a reflection of the producer’s Scope 1 emissions, and it directly impacts a purchaser’s Scope 3 emissions. Considering that over 50% of the Appalachian basin and ~30% of the total U.S. natural gas is certified, companies focusing on a complete net zero strategy are eager to apply this and an array of ESG products to their portfolio to address Scopes 1-3 emission targets, he said.

As the Northeast region, like others, experiences a push toward an all-renewable energy environment, there are clear signs that achieving this will require the significant continued contribution of natural gas.

Several presenters illustrated just how crucial natural gas has been to the energy transition. “Coal to gas switching has been the largest contributor to U.S. CO₂ reductions since 2005. The natural gas industry has continued to evolve and innovate in order to meet the ever-growing scrutiny on ESG metrics” said Graham of the discussions. He added that for most people, electric vehicles and renewables are the first things that come to mind when they hear the term “energy transition” however natural gas remains a significant contributor to this transition through industry innovations like carbon sequestration (CCUS), hydrogen production, and many methane detection efforts.

Participating in professional industry events like the Northeast LDC Gas Forum is just one of the many ways NRG continues to broaden its energy market expertise and identify new and innovative ways to support our customers’ energy goals. If you haven’t attended an LDC Gas Forum event, it’s not too late to find one for your region.