As Operating Engineers, my members and I are part of some of the largest infrastructure projects in the region. We are the people who build, dig, hoist and move just about anything. We work on wind farms and solar farms. We also dig trenches and help place pipe. Today, what those pipes are carrying is changing – renewable natural gas and renewable hydrogen are coming to the pipeline just like electrical wires are carrying more renewables. The pipelines don’t know the difference, but the planet does.
In some recent letters to the editor, there seems to be confusion about what happened in Texas – the electrical grid was within five minutes of collapse because they didn’t weatherize it, not because of renewables versus nonrenewables.
In the Pacific Northwest, we weatherize our infrastructure. Even still, we just saw what can happen when you put all your eggs in one basket. The storm left many without power for days and weeks. Those who had direct-use natural gas were able to be resilient and maybe even help their neighbors with hot water and cooking.
We can and should plan for resiliency as well as plan for renewables in both energy systems.
