Massive Gas Outage Threatens Millions Of Americans’ Energy Supplies Amid Arctic Storm

A massive storage facility in Washington state serving the natural gas network that provides electricity and heating fuel to millions of Americans from the Pacific Northwest down to New Mexico went down Saturday evening.

The Jackson Prairie Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility in Lewis County, roughly two hours south of Seattle, suffered a complete outage, triggering an emergency on the 1,500-mile Northwest Pipeline that ships gas to power plants and heating networks across a region currently struck by arctic weather.

The storage facility provided enough gas to power upward of 6 million homes if it was all used to generate electricity. The gas network also supplies heating furnaces as cities like Seattle freeze in the coldest temperatures in the city in 14 years.

The city of Ellensburg in mountainous central Washington issued a statement Saturday urging residents to conserve natural gas.

Gusty winds had already caused scattered power outages across Oregon as the winter storm sprayed the region with snow.

It’s unclear when it will come back online. Puget Sound Energy, the utility that owns the gas storage facility, did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment Saturday evening.

The episode ― just two years after a winter storm left hundreds of Texans dead as gas pipelines froze and power plants failed ― underscores how the United States’ aging energy distribution networks are heaving under increased demand and extreme weather from climate change.

Federal regulators approved an expansion of the Pacific Northwest’s gas network in October. But the investments needed to prop up the fossil fuel system are facing increased scrutiny from those who say the money should be spent on new, zero-carbon energy