Business & Tech

PSNH Fires Up the Jet Fuel

Cold temperatures necessitate need for an extra boost of power for the New England electricity grid.

Combustion turbines that use jet fuel to generate power are spinning at Public Service of New Hampshire’s plants around the state as the company goes full throttle to “help keep the lights on here in New Hampshire.”

Currently, PSNH is helping to generate 1,150 megawatts of electricity to the power grid via a number of ways, including biomass, coal, oil, and nine hydroelectric facilities. Earlier this week, the company also kicked on its combustion turbines, most which use jet fuel, in Bow, Groveton, and Tamworth, a rare occurrence, due to the second spell of very cold temperatures in the region and what the company called “insufficient pipeline capacity to satisfy New England’s increased dependence on natural gas.” This prompted the regional administrator, ISO-New England, to request PSNH to “fire up all its larger power-generating facilities” throughout the company, which also includes the Schiller Station in Portsmouth and the Newington Station.  

“This is an extremely unusual situation,” said William Smagula, PSNH’s Vice President-Generation, in a statement. “Our combustion turbines are each capable of generating 20 megawatts of power, enough energy for about 15-thousand average homes. They typically run only briefly, when demand peaks during heat waves, for example. I don’t believe a day-ahead request to be available for 15 hours has ever occurred.”

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According to the grid manager, 75 percent of the region’s national gas electrical generation capability was not running on Thursday, “presumably due to limited gas supply and/or high prices,” according to a statement by PSNH. When prices or high demand spike, ISO-New England looks for “lower-cost” alternatives. According to the company, 22,000 megawatts of power were required for use on Jan. 23.

“There is no question that the New England system is severely stressed at the moment,” Smagula said, “but our entire fleet continues to perform well and provide great value to New Hampshire customers, by keeping the lights on and costs stable.”

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