Running on Fumes?
Natural Gas Supply On the Front Burner

The pressure on the ANR pipeline dropped, then dropped some more, losing about 40 pounds per hour in Madison. In eastern Wisconsin, it would soon fall to a level where local shutdowns of the natural gas distribution system would be unavoidable in several communities, and that wouldn't do. It was the 23rd day of 2003. Starting from a low of six below zero, the temperature in Green Bay hadn't made it into the teens and people needed help staying warm.
Late that afternoon, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) announced it was shutting off gas to large commercial customers with "interruptible" contracts. The Green Bay-based utility appealed to its residential customers to lower thermostats and switch to electric heat, oil burners, or wood stoves if they could.
Ron Mosnik, WPS' manager for gas engineering, issued a statement declaring that "gas pressures are not adequate to support the eastern portion of our service territory" and warned that things could worsen as evening temperatures dropped.
Customers responded as best they could. Those who couldn't be interrupted, conserved. The overnight low held above zero, and ANR was able to boost pressure enough to keep the system going. Still, WPS dispatched more than a dozen employees to the Brillion, Manitowoc, and Two Rivers area, to stand by in case they needed to close things down.
"No harm no foul" was Paul Vanderbloemen's assessment of the close call. But, as Madison Gas and Electric's executive director for rates and energy accounting, Vanderbloemen added that during the brief crisis, minimum system pressure had not been maintained in Manitowoc, Two Rivers, and Valders, or in the Columbia and Jefferson County communities of Columbus and Waterloo.
"A flag went off and it's necessary to take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again," he said.

The Pipeline Lifeline

ANR pipelines deliver about 75 percent of the natural gas used in Wisconsin. In effect, we draw from a web of gigantic drinking straws reaching to offshore Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Canada. Along the way, there are countless holes in the straws: industrial boilers, power plants, home heating units, gas stoves, you name it, all served by local and regional utilities tapping into that pipeline, buying and reselling gas transported by ANR.
Some who watched the pipeline lose pressure that chilly day in January swiftly concluded the straws had found the bottom of an empty glass. The cold snap had penetrated the Deep South, and one utility employee said there simply hadn't been enough gas to meet demand.
Vanderbloemen didn't see it that way. At least at this end of the pipe, "Demand wasn't so high," he said. And a report to the Public Service Commission (PSC) from ANR cites mechanical problems hindering gas transmission from both north and south.
Donna Holznecht, acting administrator of the PSC's gas division, told Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News the incident began when a compressor failed on the Great Lakes Pipeline in Minnesota. Unable to obtain the volume of purchased gas it was to receive at Crystal Falls, Michigan, where its system meets Great Lakes, ANR sought additional supply through its southwest leg, from Oklahoma.
But increasing flow on the southwest leg decreased pressure at the ANR hub near Chicago, causing automatic shutdown valves to trip off compressors there and drop pressure even further. The events of January 23rd were caused not by insufficient gas supplies, but by insufficient ability to transport gas.

Many Eggs, One Basket

California's ghastly experience with electric restructuring makes it easy to forget how Wisconsin residents added "rolling blackout" to their vocabularies about four years before the phrase achieved fame on the West Coast.
Wisconsin has avoided actual blackouts, but not by much during the summers of the late 1990s. And things will get complicated again. In January and again in March, the chairman of the Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities told gatherings of electric cooperative leaders Wisconsin remains on the edge of power needs outstripping capacity.
"Frankly, the recession saved us," by holding down demand the past two summers, said State Rep. Scott Jensen (R–Waukesha). But, he added, with a resumption of strong economic growth, "people will be surprised how quickly" Wisconsin' ability to meet electric demand is tested.
Power plants built in recent years and many still on the drawing board could be simultaneously the things that make the economy run and the focus of a new round of energy issues as urgent as the electricity shortages of the '90s.
Since 1993, Wisconsin has added 22 electric generating units totaling more than 2,700 megawatts, all fueled with natural gas. Thirteen more, totaling 6,500 megawatts or almost three-fourths of the new generating capacity now planned in this state, are proposed or under construction.
Undoubtedly needed, this new capacity doesn't so much eliminate our energy problems as transform them. Late in the '90s, Wisconsin had a booming economy with barely enough electricity to keep it running. Late in this decade, Wisconsin could have enough generating plants to power a booming economy with barely enough fuel to keep them running.
In a Strategic Energy Assessment released last December, the PSC plots the growth of Wisconsin's natural gas usage. From 2001 through 2006, estimates of gas used in electric generation climb from roughly 25 trillion BTUs to more than 160 trillion. If those figures prove out, Wisconsin will use more than five times as much natural gas generating electricity in 2006 as it did last year.
The figures also assume enough pipeline capacity to bring the gas here, something that's not guaranteed.
The Guardian Pipeline, increasing statewide import capacity about 25 percent, began serving southeast Wisconsin in December. Proposed early in 1999, it was fought in both state and federal regulatory proceedings by two other pipeline companies: ANR and Northern Natural Gas. Also proposed in 1999 was a lateral to deliver gas from the Guardian to two new generating units. Approved by regulators, it's not yet in service, partly because of litigation by affected landowners, partly because of construction delays.
In western Wisconsin things are tighter. A March 2002 PSC assessment of interstate pipeline capacity said, "Wisconsin does have, and will continue to have, interstate pipeline capacity problems in the western part of the state for the foreseeable future."
The problem in this case is not an incumbent provider battling to fence out competitors or landowners saying "not in my back yard." The problem is no one offering to build at a price others are willing to pay.
Seven decades ago, rural Wisconsin residents formed electric cooperatives because investor-owned utilities didn't think they could make enough money serving areas of low population density. Today, pipeline companies look at a similar set of incentives—and stay away.

More Than One Option

A state that imports virtually all of its generating fuel is well advised to avoid over-reliance on one fuel type. And as combustion and emission-control technologies improve, the coal that has traditionally fueled most of Wisconsin's base-load power plants will be an increasingly attractive option. That is all to the good, as affordable, reliable electric power can hinge on a diverse fuel mix.
This need for diversity is more than rhetoric. Here is what the PSC said in its 2002 energy assessment:
"If pipeline pressure deterioration does not occur, the eastern part of the state appears to have ample interstate pipeline capacity to meet demand growth for the next several years... Our conclusion may be in error, however, if an unexpectedly large number of natural gas-fired electrical generation projects come forward." [emphasis added]
The assessment went on to reiterate that western Wisconsin "has been, and will likely continue to be, capacity constrained."
Meanwhile, more than a dozen gas-fired units await construction. Three proposed coal-fired units using technologies that would dramatically cut emissions are under siege by groups demanding they be built to burn gas instead.
Wisconsin doesn't have a natural gas crisis—yet. Nor do we have an electricity crisis—now. But our solution to the problems of the 1990s may strain both the electric and gas infrastructure when the economy picks up. It's a manageable problem, provided we're willing to do what's necessary.—Dave Hoopman

Are you Wisconsin fishermen dreaming of a world-record muskie—say, one that’s half a block long and more than four stories high? Fortunately, this leaping muskie really does exist, but unfortunately, you can’t catch or eat it. It is hand-sculpted of concrete, steel, and fiberglass, and it’s located in Hayward, surrounded by a quarter-acre natural pond and beautifully landscaped grounds. The magnificent fish houses the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum, and its gaping open jaw accommodates approximately 20 visitors on its observation platform.
More than 100,000 visitors view the Fishing Hall of Fame each year. Known as a “Shrine to Anglers,” the six-building complex is the world’s largest fishing museum. It houses more than 5,000 dated lures; hundreds of antique rods, reels, and angling accessories; more than 300 antique and classic outboard motors; and more than 400 mounts of fish, including nearly 200 different species.
Besides viewing the museum’s exhibits, visitors can watch short movies about a variety of fishing-related subjects, and a gift and book store offers opportunities for them to learn even more about the pastime or just to take home a souvenir of their trip.
The non-profit museum serves as official qualifier and recorder of world-record fish caught for sport in fresh water. It also serves as an educational organization, a historian of fishing artifacts, and an entity for enshrining those with outstanding achievements in the world of fishing.
The Fishing Hall of Fame is located on Hall of Fame Drive (at the junction of Highways 27 and B), Hayward. It is open from April 15 to November 1, seven days a week, from 10–5. In the summer, the grounds are open until 5:30; in April, May, September, and October, the grounds close at 4:30. The museum is handicapped accessible.

For more information about the Fishing Hall of Fame, call 715/634-4440 or visit
http://Freshwater-Fishing.org.