Strong wind factor in the fire of a gas compression station

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The incident prompted officials to ask people to turn down their thermostats, fearing that natural gas would flow to millions of people in extremely cold weather.

Consumers Energy stated that its internal review of the fire, which lasted two months, "revealed no evidence of a lack of proper maintenance of our equipment".

"The fire and damage at Ray Station was caused by a fire-ventilated fire door process that was proven safe and effective in the past. But in extreme and extreme weather conditions, the process has become dangerous for the station's equipment, "said the utility president said in a report submitted Friday to the Michigan Public Service Commission.

"This new failure mode has now been added and new countermeasures for risk mitigation will be implemented at the Ray Station and throughout the fleet to enhance resilience and safety." avoid failures in exceptional circumstances in the future. "

The Public Service Commission has until May 8 to review the report and file a response, said spokesman Nick Assendelft. Meanwhile, the commission is conducting its own investigation into what happened.

Consumers Energy spokeswoman Katie Carey told Free Press that on Jan. 30, a ground fault had interrupted a fire barrier system designed to quickly release natural gas in an emergency . Officials are still studying the circumstances surrounding the ground fault, Carey said.

According to the report, the gas was evacuated around 10:25 am from the factory 3. Due to the extreme cold, the gas did not disperse as usual, Carey said.

Then the winds pushed the gas into the area over the treatment equipment of another plant, the report says.

"The exhaust flow of thermal oxidizer 1506 ° F from the factory 2 has self-lit gas plume at the factory 3 inlet," says the report.

The Ray Township facility, "the largest source of operating gas capacity in Michigan", includes not only a compressor station, but also a natural gas storage field. It managed nearly two-thirds of the natural gas capacity of the state's 1.8 million customers in the state after going bankrupt on an extremely cold day.

Officials at the time said that a large amount of gas was available, but that distribution to customers became a problem. Consumers Energy officials and Governor Gretchen Whitmer urged people to voluntarily reduce their consumption of natural gas.

Whitmer also ordered a review of the state's energy supply system as a result of the incident.