Enchanted Rock’s dual-purpose microgrids and generators use natural gas and renewable natural gas to provide backup power for data centers, hospitals, electric vehicle fleets and critical infrastructure while producing significantly lower to zero carbon emissions compared to traditional diesel generators.
Today, energy is at a crossroads as both consumers and energy providers explore innovative solutions like energy storage and microgrids to optimize energy use, improve reliability and mitigate environmental impact. This strategy reflects a collective effort to transition toward a more sustainable and resilient energy future. An additional solution can be found right under our feet.
Our natural gas infrastructure consistently delivers today’s energy demands thanks to its reliability and versatility, meeting the needs of a wide range of industries and applications. With a market size that was valued at $3.9 trillion in 2023 and anticipated to grow at more than 2.7% compound annual growth rate from 2024 to 2032, the existing underground natural gas pipeline infrastructure isn’t going anywhere soon. On the contrary, it offers a unique opportunity to eliminate higher-emission fossil fuels like coal and diesel while providing enhanced resiliency for businesses and communities.
The nation’s natural gas infrastructure relies on an extensive network of pipelines, storage facilities and distribution systems to provide reliable energy to communities, businesses and households.
Since pipelines are often interconnected, multiple routes and alternate pathways to transport natural gas help mitigate the impact of disruptions, such as equipment failures, maintenance activities or unforeseen circumstances. Durable construction materials—designed to withstand various environmental factors, including extreme weather events, seismic activity and natural disasters—also minimize the risk of pipeline failures and ensure the continuous flow of natural gas to end users and power plants, even during emergencies. These redundancies provide an increasingly dependable and flexible energy source that helps meet the growing demand for a continuous energy supply with the application of microgrids.
Microgrids are localized, distributed energy resources that are connected to but can also “island” from the primary grid, providing backup energy during outages and helping supply system peak demand during normal operations and emergencies. During power shortages or when there is a spike in energy prices, these dual-purpose microgrids can provide power back to the main grid, helping local utilities meet demand, improving overall grid stability and generating a revenue stream for the microgrid owner.
For natural gas-fueled microgrids that partner with gas utilities, the consistent supply of natural gas from the pipeline network enhances the reliability of the backup energy solution, ensuring the continuity of essential services and operations for clients regardless of conditions.
This held true in 2021, when a powerful winter storm dropped temperatures into the single digits and teens for several days, crippling Texas’ electrical grid and causing statewide power outages. Experts determined that natural gas supplied more than 60% of electricity generation each day of the storm and 67% of all power generation at the height of the event in the state. Among the 143 Texas sites equipped with Enchanted Rock’s natural gas microgrids, customers were protected for a total of 4,984 outage hours over eight days, while supplying capacity aid back to the main power grid. The microgrid’s backup generators, which do not require a highpressure gas supply in cold temperatures, protected critical facilities from substantial costs and enabled them to play an integral role in supporting the community with health care, water supply, food and other services to weather the storm.
This performance not only demonstrates the value of our pipeline infrastructure. It also supports expanding our pipeline network to help harden our grid—whether during local power outages or grid emergencies.
Natural gas infrastructure can also serve as a critical component in providing bridge power and flexible capacity for companies waiting on grid interconnection queues. As peak electricity demand increases at an unprecedented pace, power generation challenges are also on the rise. Slow interconnection queues, the retirement of baseload coal and nuclear plants, and the lack of transmission infrastructure are preventing supply from meeting demand, resulting in customers waiting several years for reliable 24/7 access to the grid.
That’s where the natural gas pipeline network comes into play, offering a reliable and efficient means of transporting natural gas to supply microgrids that address fluctuating power demand and support diverse energy needs.
As an example, data centers are one of the fastest-growing power-intensive industries. They are not only reaching into new geographies, but they are also becoming larger and using hundreds more megawatts than they did a decade ago. With the unprecedented growth of artificial intelligence expected to push U.S. data center energy consumption from 17 gigawatts in 2022 to upward of 35 GW by 2030, these power-hungry facilities will all be competing for grid power.
As these facilities are being constructed, natural gas microgrids utilize existing natural gas infrastructure to provide bridge power ahead of grid connections and then flexible capacity once the grid arrives. This flexibility allows data centers to power themselves during peak loads on the grid, freeing up grid capacity and helping stabilize the grid. This allows businesses to expedite their entry into the market and capitalize on opportunities without facing delays or constraints associated with the interconnection process or new power plant development—or having to abandon a site completely.
Going forward, grid connection via integrated microgrid systems will be a necessity, not a luxury, for data centers and other energy-intensive industries, and natural gas pipelines will play a vital role in supporting flexible capacity for companies awaiting interconnection.
Another significant advantage of natural gas is its lower carbon intensity compared to traditional fuels like diesel. When used in reciprocating engines or gas turbines for standby power generation, natural gas emits fewer greenhouse gases and local pollutants per unit of energy produced as compared to both Tier 2 and Tier 4 diesel, making natural gas backup microgrids a much cleaner alternative. Taking this a step further, microgrids can also take advantage of sustainable fuel sources like renewable natural gas, which helps facilities like data centers achieve net-zero or even carbon-negative emissions.
For example, Enchanted Rock is building a microgrid that will utilize RNG to provide carbon-neutral backup power for Microsoft’s new data center in San Jose, California. The microgrid is expected to produce hourly local emissions that are 80% to 96% lower than the Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 4 diesel standards, reducing the facility’s overall carbon footprint and supporting Microsoft’s goal to become carbon-negative by 2030.
As data center customers and other industries look to reduce their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and meet their sustainability goals, the gas pipeline network will provide the critical infrastructure needed to adopt alternative fuels like RNG.
Today’s energy landscape is a complex balance between increasing demand and the challenges of a changing grid. Yet our natural gas infrastructure emerges as a pivotal element in the solution. Alongside innovations like natural gas microgrids and RNG, the pipeline network supports resilience and facilitates the transition to a lower-carbon future. Leveraging the potential of our natural gas infrastructure will be essential for meeting ever-increasing demands while ensuring energy security and environmental stewardship.