Interruptible Gas Service | Curtailment & Full Costs

Test whether the facility can actually curtail

Use the exact utility schedule and agreement for the premises. Interruptible transportation, a supplier volume clause and a paid demand-response program are different arrangements.

Worked review: a discount with an untested operating response

Suppose a facility receives a lower-cost interruptible proposal, but the only person receiving curtailment notices works weekday hours. Before modeling a benefit, operations needs an off-hours escalation process and a realistic response plan. A tariff obligation can matter even when no interruption occurred during the historical budget period.

Have qualified personnel assess shutdown and restart procedures, equipment limitations and any alternate-fuel capacity or permissions. Include readiness and operating costs in the comparison without assuming that backup equipment eliminates every risk. Request the actual notice, performance and noncompliance terms rather than relying on an advertised discount. The decision record should identify who can act and which loads can respond safely; it should not present an untested operational capability as established.

Separate interruptible transport from a retail discount

FERC’s capacity-release explanation distinguishes firm capacity from situations in which interruptible service may be unavailable during high demand. An individual facility’s local interruptible tariff has its own rules. Identify which service can be curtailed, who issues the notice and what the customer must do. A lower charge does not establish that the facility can safely satisfy the interruption conditions. FERC: firm capacity release and secondary transportation markets.

Approve a response plan before an economic comparison

Have operations document critical equipment, safe shutdown, backup capability, restart time and notification coverage. Have finance model readiness costs and a range of disruption scenarios alongside any rate difference. Confirm how noncompliance is measured and charged under the effective agreement. Keep physical continuity questions separate from a supply contract’s fixed-price feature; that feature alone does not create firm service. EIA: natural gas pipeline transportation and distribution.

A readiness review that can reject the discount

Document how a notice reaches responsible staff at night, during holidays and during a communications outage. Have operations define safe reduction and restart procedures using qualified personnel. Check whether backup equipment is actually available and permitted before including it as a response option. Finance should show the rate difference separately from readiness costs, possible disruption and any nonperformance exposure. A responsible decision may reject the lower charge because the required response is not operationally acceptable.

Use the appropriate planning tool

Monthly gas budget: Use a monthly budget for ordinary costs, then retain interruption scenarios separately; this calculator does not model safe shutdown or tariff penalties.