ODIN Attends NGA’s Spring Operations Conference

08 Aprily 2024

A good couple of days at the Northeast Gas Association‘s Spring Operations Conference in Saratoga Springs, NY. ODIN’s Tom Mumford was in attendance. The event opened with a keynote Q&A with Con Edison’s Senior Vice President of Gas Operations, Kathy Boden, whose conversation ranged from safety and policy to the meshing of gas and electricity to provide for her customers. Ms. Boden was candid and left more unsaid than she stated outright which gained approval from the standing room only audience. It made for an interesting take on the industry here in the northeast. The moderator was NGA’s Alana Daly Mikhalevsky.

There were three tracks, Infrastructure Transition, Gas Operations: Innovation & Leading Practices, and Regulatory Environment, all with many interesting topics.

The second day opened with a lively panel discussion on Pipeline Safety Focus in an evolving Regulatory Environment, hosted by Mark Hereth of the Blackstone Group. On the panel were Kevin Speicher from the NYS Department of Public Service, Karl Baker of the CT Public Utility Regulatory authority and Massoud Tahamtani, PHMSA. What appeared to be a potentially dull session got very lively as anecdotes and incidences from the past brough different perspectives from the panelists.

With the tracks and topics available, many were intriguing. However, New Jersey Natural Gas‘s Mark Kahrer’s talk on ‘Greening the Pipeline” was very well received as he shined a light on how to decarbonize over time while maintaining reasonable rates and high reliability. His voice should be heard by wider audiences.

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