More flexibility needed from gas trading

At the recent Austin Electricity Conference (held at The University of Texas), I chaired a panel session that examined the challenges at the gas-electricity nexus. Gas has been an important fuel for electricity in Texas for decades, but in other countries and in other regions of the US, particularly New England, gas utilization for electricity has only increased relatively recently, and the greater use of gas has already come with some problems.

Gas will become increasingly important for coping with variations in wind and solar, but traditional gas market trading does not match this requirement very well. One of several issues we discussed was the need for the gas industry to move away from “bankers’ hours.” While the gas industry does not need the 24/7 management and real-time control that is necessary for electricity, I believe we need to see gas trading becoming more flexible to support one of its biggest customers: the electricity industry.