Last year Pacific Northern Gas (PNG) submitted a proposal to the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) that would have seen the company putting nearly $5 million in upgrades and repairs to the Tumbler Ridge Gas Plant.

This would have bumped up the amount people in Tumbler Ridge were paying for gas by $3.76/Gigajoule (Gj), starting next year.

Which didn’t sit well with many locals, as Tumbler Ridge already pays over $6/Gj more for gas than either Dawson Creek or Fort St. John.

But partway through the process, PNG withdrew their application, saying they were still in negotiations with their gas supplier. “Consequently, PNG lacks sufficient confidence in its future gas supply to justify the proposed investment in the Tumbler Ridge Gas Plant at present,” the company told the BCUC earlier this year.

“Given the current uncertainty, PNG is not prepared to begin this work at this time. PNG is continuing to reassess its gas supply options for the Tumbler Ridge service area and will submit any appropriate applications to the BCUC when it believes an application is warranted.”

Well, they’ve apparently got it figured out, and it actually looks like the chips are falling in favour of Tumbler Ridge.

According to documents submitted to the BCUC in June, PNG says that after they made the request to make improvements to the gas plant, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL), the company that supplies gas to PNG, approached them with an alternative supply arrangement.

“Despite the terms of the alternative supply arrangement not being agreed upon,” writes PNG, “in late 2024 CNRL undertook system changes to commence providing sales quality gas to PNG. This change means that PNG does not currently need to process the gas being delivered by CNRL.”

This means that the company no longer needs to process the sour gas at the plant, as the new gas supply is sweet gas, meaning it is free of hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas found in sour gas, which the gas plant was meant to remove.

Or, in terms of the contract language, CNRL is now supplying residue gas, as opposed to raw gas.

“With the deferral of the repair work on the plant due to the ongoing engagement with CNRL, PNG has now determined that in order to ensure the ongoing safe and reliable supply of gas to its customers, PNG needs to modify the plant to remove the gas plant process units from active service.”

So, earlier this summer, PNG set up a bypass so that the sweet gas would bypass the plant, and plans to place the plant into hibernation.

This work will cost about $800,000 says the company.

This means the obligation of a safe, secure supply of gas is now on CNRL.

However, while the company is currently in the process of mothballing its gas plant, contracts have yet to be signed and formalized; according to PNG, there is no estimated date on that happening.

Nor is there any word on how long this contract would be in place for. It is possible that in a couple years CNRL may no longer be able to supply enough residue gas, and PNG will have to bring its plant back on-line, at which point in time that the repairs, which have been deferred, will still need to be completed.

How will this affect gas prices in Tumbler Ridge? While final rates have not been determined, according to PNG, they expect this will “contribute to lower basic and delivery charges for Tumbler Ridge customers than they otherwise would be under a scenario where raw gas continues to be processed.”

While the plant will still need to be maintained in case PNG needs to go back to processing raw gas, “the reconfiguration provides operational flexibility at lower cost by eliminating the need for immediate and significant capital repairs. Such repairs would otherwise have placed significant upward pressure on the basic and delivery charges for Tumbler Ridge customers.”

https://tumblerridgelines.com/2025/08/08/png-reveals-gas-supply-plans-for-tumbler-ridge/