The North Baja System responded to an unexpected request for help during the recent spate of cold weather in California.

On the morning of November 22, 2004, the Southern California Gas Company was hit with a double dose of demand for natural gas. The San Diego area served by SoCalGas affiliate San Diego Gas & Electric was experiencing much colder-than-normal weather when the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station suddenly went offline, creating a spike in gas demand.

SoCalGas’ manager of gas control contacted Jay Story, director of gas control and transportation services for the North Baja System, and asked if it were possible to flow gas into the SoCalGas/SDG&E system through an unconventional and untested back door - the international border crossing at Otay Mesa.

"The call came in about 10:30 a.m.," Story recalled. "I don’t know if he used the words, but clearly, this was an emergency situation. They were losing pressure in the southern end of their system pretty dramatically."

SoCalGas was already making arrangements with El Paso Natural Gas to deliver additional supplies into the North Baja System at its Ehrenberg interconnect. Over the course of 20 hours, the North Baja System delivered approximately 50 MMcf to Otay Mesa via a path that included the North Baja System, Gasoducto Bajanorte and Transportadora de Gas Natural.

"It was one of those situations in which we knew we would have to take care of the commercial arrangements after the fact, which we did with no problem," Story said. "When you’re in the middle of one of these situations, you focus on the physical side. That’s one of the things I really like about the pipeline community - we do things for each other. Maintaining the integrity of the grid is good for all of us, because next time, it might be the North Baja System asking for help."