Before We Build More Gas Pipelines, We Need Better Data

Why It Matters

Accurate, high‑resolution data lets regulators and utilities maximize current assets, avoiding costly, unnecessary pipeline projects and improving grid resilience during extreme weather.

Key Takeaways

• Data gaps obscure generator failure causes.
• End‑user labels hide critical load information.
• Proprietary data limits public modeling accuracy.
• Better data cheaper than building new pipelines.
• Integrated models need real‑time weather and flow data.

Pulse Analysis

Winter storms expose the fragility of America’s energy system, as soaring demand for both electric and gas heating strains pipelines and transmission lines. Policymakers often respond by proposing new gas pipelines, assuming that added capacity will solve the problem. Yet the real bottleneck lies in the opacity of the data that underpins operational decisions. Without precise information on where generators sit, how they run, and which customers draw gas at any moment, utilities are forced to rely on broad assumptions that can misguide investment and emergency response strategies.

The researchers’ integrated gas‑electric model highlights several critical data blind spots. Existing public records, such as the Generating Availability Data System, capture only the timing of generator outages, omitting location, load level, local weather conditions, and pipeline congestion status. On the gas side, the generic "End User" label masks whether a withdrawal serves a hospital, a factory, or a residential furnace, obscuring priority hierarchies during shortages. Proprietary datasets held by pipeline operators and utilities remain inaccessible to independent analysts, limiting the ability to simulate realistic worst‑case scenarios and to design market mechanisms that protect essential services.

Addressing these gaps does not require new steel but a coordinated data‑sharing framework. Regulators could mandate granular, anonymized reporting of generator performance and gas flow metrics, while establishing secure platforms that balance transparency with critical‑infrastructure security. Such an approach would enable more accurate forecasting, targeted demand‑response programs, and smarter allocation of existing pipeline capacity—delivering resilience at a fraction of the cost of new construction. In short, better data is the low‑cost lever that can keep the heat on when the next big freeze hits.