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HOWONE
MODERN CITY
SKIRTEDTHE
''RAGGED EDGE''
OFENERGY
DISASTER
by
Jerry Gentry
T
HE CITY
ofSan Antonio,
Texas, si ts like a thou–
sand sparkling jewels
below the stars of the south
central Texas sky. The
city's nearly three quarters
of a million inhabitants
have lived amidst a plen–
tiful supply of relatively
cheap energy from rich oil
and natural gas fields
nearby.
But the era of cheap,
plentiful energy for San
Antonians, as for most
of the developed world, is
over. Recently, San An–
tonio experienced what
newspapers called " the
most serious energy crisis
in the city's history."
Here is a step by step
account of San Antonio's
near disaster, which
struck and tlÍen sub–
sided within less than 48
hours.
Wednesday afternoon,
December 19, 1973
-
San
Antonio's City Public Ser–
vice , which supplies
45 ,000 customers with
electricity and natural
gas, was notified of a seri–
ous natural gas cutback.. T)1.e
expected ' 286 mi Ilion cubic
feet per day was reduced to
262 million cubic feet by
San Antonio's supplier,
to
be
etfective irnmediately.
This cutback coincided
with a cold weather front which had
already plunged the temperature to
17 degrees- super-cold for San An–
tonio's normally moderate climate.
The snap of cold weatber brought
San Antonio near the "ragged edge"
of a serious natural gas crisis, as a
local newspaper proclaimed. The
worst was yet to come.
Midnight, December 20, 1973 -
A
further cutback to 221 million cubic
feet of natural gas per day was put
into etfect. Officials had already
complained that natural gas re–
serves supplying the city had been
seriously depleted and that there
was not enough gas to meet prior
signed commitments to San An–
tonio. The supplier had previously
adrnitted illegally selling off sorne
reserves for higher prices and over–
selling the actual amounts of gas in
the ground. This was an unfortunate
example of human greed max–
imizing profits at public expense.
Undoubtedly, it was not the only
example.
One p.m., Thursday, December 20,
1973
-
A further cutback to 167
million cubic feet per day reduced
San Antonio's total gas supply by
more than one third. The city was
then shivering in sub-freezing tem–
peratures. Sorne homes had barely
enough gas pressure to produce a
ftame in gas stoves. Warnings were
publicized through the radio, televi–
sion and newspapers. Over 1,000
major industrial and commercial
energy users were notified that mas–
sive energy conservation was manda–
tory and that the supply of natural
gas might be cut off.
During the energy crunch, electric
generators which normally whir
from steam pressure generated from
burning natural gas were quickly
converted to backup oil-fired sys–
tems. City officials were theo busily
stockpiling 2,250,000 barreis of oil
for- an emergency 30-day supply.
One power plant was generating
400 megawatts of electricity from oil
within hours of the surprise natural
gas cutback. Citizens and industries
responded to pleas for conservation
with an estimated 20% reduction in
their use of natural gas and electric–
ity.
Friday, December 21, 1973 -
The
crisis subsided almost as quickly as
it had struck. Warm weatber re–
duced the need for natural gas in
"human need" areas - mostly
homes. offices, hospitals and food
processing plants. The crisis had
passed.
It
was "business as usual."
Utilities resumed normal operation
as gas pressures rose back to nor–
mal. The feared " ragged edge" of
disaster was postponed.
San Antonians now realize they
live on one end of a delicate balance
between energy supply and de–
mand. Before, they simply took en-
. ergy for granted, as did many other
energy-rich areas. San Antonians
- and city dwellers worldwide -
are now beginning to pay dearly for
the electricity, natural gas and oil
which light and heat their homes,
operate their offices and factories
and propel their automobiles. They
are realizing that the energy sources.
once plentiful and cbeap. are be–
coming extremely scarce and more
precious as time goes on.
S¡¡n Antonio's experience with
near disaster points up the vulner–
ability of a modero city. San An–
tonio is no different from other
modero ci ties in at least one very
important respect: All depend on
vast quantities of energy - usually
from nonrenewable fuels. And the
average person in San Antonio, as
elsewhere, has little or no control
over the actual sources of energy
which support his affluent life-style.
San Antonio's recent energy crisis
serves to point up tbe need for the
development of energy alternatives,
such as solar, wind, geothermal, gar–
bage, etc. And most of all, it points
up the need for a reconsideration of
how we use
so much energy per per–
son and for a restructuring of life–
styles to far less dependence on
ever-increasing amounts of non–
renewable energy supplies.
O
BRAUNIG POWER PLANT
-
Engineer
stands at sophisticated control panel,
San Antonio, Texas.
PLAIN TRUTH Aprll 1974