To the Editor:

Currently, Gov. Gina Raimondo is supportive of the $700 million natural gas-fired power plant to be built in Burrillville, and that project, by Invenergy Corporation, is being met with strong opposition from a coalition of residents and environmental groups. With this conflict “simmering” over the course of these warm summer months, what, if anything, does this mean to the residents of the East Bay in general, and to Bristol, specifically?

Before addressing that important point, it is dually important to note and congratulate the country of Portugal, where, just this past May, the country of 10 million people generated enough electricity (via solar, wind and hydro) to meet its entire demand for four consecutive days. Amazing!

But equally important is scale, as Portugal has a relatively small economy and number of households. As a matter of fact, renewable energy’s share of global energy consumption is a paltry 1.4 percent, as compared to fossil fuels, which equates to a significant 78.3 percent share.

Natural Gas, delivered to the Northeast in large quantities via pipelines, is consumed two ways. The first — and the order is in priority — is to heat homes in the winter, and the second is to produce electricity all year-long. What should concern local residents, specifically those who do not heat with natural gas, is whether ample supply is available to meet peak electricity demand during the cold, shortened day-light days of winter.

My cautionary advice to my fellow residents is that the natural gas pipelines have operated at dangerously close to 100 percent capacity as demand skyrocketed during numerous cold winter days over the last 15 years. When capacity is exceeded, critical populations, such as hospitals, nursing homes and first responders are served first. Homeowners will be left to their own resources. Plan ahead.

During my tenure as the administrator of the RI Office of Energy Resources, I had commissioned and published the RI Energy Assurance Plan (RIEAP) Report, which not only spells out these facts regarding critical pipeline capacity challenges, but is now a trusted reference guide at many state agencies.

I was asked to advise the newly elected Lt. Gov. Dan McKee and his transition team on this RIEAP Report and also small business issues, back in 2014. The findings in this report essentially settle the issue on the Burrillville matter, and if not, Bristol residents should prepare themselves every winter, and hope that the pipeline capacity remains unchanged and not increased!

Patrick “Pat” McCarthy

4 Maple Shade Court