NPGA Board meets in Colorado

The National Public Gas Agency (NPGA) held its quarterly Board of Directors meeting in Fort Morgan, Colo., in June. 

The Board typically holds its meetings at the NMPP Energy building in Lincoln, Neb., but decided to hold a meeting in Fort Morgan, a NPGA member community, to minimize travel for those that typically have the longest distance to travel.

Public Gas Partners Pool 3
The meeting included an update on the Public Gas Partners (PGP) Pool 3 project. NPGA is one of four participant members in the project that formed in 2009 and acquires gas reserves to fulfill gas deliveries. The project serves as a hedging strategy for eight NPGA member project participants.

The NPGA members participating collectively receive a small share (2.2%) of the overall project’s production. The other project participants are the Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia, Southeast Alabama Gas District and Patriots Energy Group.

The PGP recently approved its new budget, which includes funding for drilling six new natural gas wells along with stimulating 10 existing wells. The drilling program comes in response to sustained higher natural gas market prices.

PHMSA grant funding opportunity
An update was provided on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recent grant funding opportunity for municipally-owned natural gas distribution pipelines. The $1 billion in funding comes from the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

NPGA hosted a workshop regarding the grant funding opportunity for its members in April and the American Public Gas Association hosted an informational webinar and weekly roundtable sessions. The federal Notice of Funding Opportunity was issued in late May and applications must be submitted by July 25. To date, nine NPGA members have pursued grant funding through this opportunity.

Storage funding discussion
The Board discussed funding strategies for members that have costs associated with natural gas storage. Due to the volatile natural gas pricing, the Board authorized staff to charge members monthly for the cost of gas injected into storage. Previous funding for storage had been provided by NPGA as a benefit of membership; however, the elevated cost of natural gas is causing liquidity constraints.