Energy Tomorrow Blog

Cold, Consumers and U.S. Infrastructure Needs

natural gas pipelines  infrastructure  consumers 

Mark Green
Posted January 4, 2018

The overarching lesson is that public policy should serve the public. How many winters must New Englanders endure inadequate supply and unreasonably high costs before elected officials from town councils all the way up to the statehouses put consumers first? Here in Washington, trade groups including API have urged Congress to prioritize infrastructure spending, but it’s just an exercise if state and community policymakers stand in the way of needed infrastructure construction.

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Bill Would Help Strengthen U.S. Energy Infrastructure

natural gas pipelines  environmental review  consumers  natural gas benefits  natural gas access 

Mark Green
Posted September 21, 2017

For a number of months we’ve been talking about the need for more efficient and predictable federal processes for the permitting of energy infrastructure – including new natural gas pipelines and added capacity. New, bipartisan legislation introduced this week in the U.S. Senate is latest move in that direction.

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FERC’s Quorum, Infrastructure and Natural Gas Exports

federal government  infrastructure  lng exports  natural gas  pipelines 

Mark Green
Posted August 7, 2017

FERC’s restored quorum is a good time to remind everyone how critically important infrastructure is to America’s ongoing energy renaissance. This country’s abundance of natural gas and oil – unlocked by modern hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling – has made the U.S. the world’s leading gas and oil producer, grown the economy, benefited consumers and boosted American manufacturing while playing an important role in U.S. progress on air quality and climate. These benefits are brought by a natural gas and oil industry that is, itself, an economic dynamo: 10.3 million jobs supported, $1.3 trillion generated to the national economy and economic impacts provided in all 50 states.

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Energy Infrastructure – For Growth, Security

infrastructure  natural gas pipelines  oil pipelines  economic growth  jobs  investments 

Mark Green
Posted May 16, 2017

Energy is opportunity. Energy infrastructure allows opportunity to become reality by bringing the benefits of natural gas, oil and refined products to consumers – individuals, businesses and industrial users. Last week API released a new study detailing the extent of the many positives resulting from developing needed U.S. natural gas and oil infrastructure, out to the year 2035. These are measured in more than a trillion dollars in investments and economic growth, potentially generating more than 1 million jobs. This supports a vision of growth and prosperity that can touch every state in the union, not just those that are big energy producers. 

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The Pipeline Solution to High New England Energy Costs

natural gas  pipelines  infrastructure  electricity  new hampshire  maine  vermont  rhode island  connecticut  massachusetts 

Mark Green
Posted March 15, 2017

The solution is more natural gas pipeline capacity, by building new lines or by expanding existing ones. New England policymakers should foster infrastructure by considering fair and appropriate financing mechanisms to help pay for new projects and by working to build community support for safe and responsible project development. This is the sensible path to keep New England’s consumers from paying more than is necessary for their energy.

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Winter and the Northeast’s Infrastructure Needs

consumers  energy costs  infrastructure  natural gas pipelines 

Michael Tadeo
Posted October 28, 2016

Earlier this month the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued its winter fuels outlook in which it said most U.S. households can expect higher heating costs this winter. In a conference call with reporters, API Chief Economist Erica Bowman discussed the approaching winter and underscored the need for increased natural pipeline capacity in the Northeast to help consumers there who historically have paid higher prices for energy than other parts of the country. 

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Energizing Massachusetts

massachusetts  infrastructure  natural gas pipelines  states2016  vote4energy 

Mark Green
Posted September 3, 2016

The key energy issue in Massachusetts, like a number of other New England states, is infrastructure. Massachusetts doesn’t produce natural gas and oil itself, so the state must bring these fuels in from elsewhere to heat homes and generate electricity for residences and businesses.

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Just Say ‘Yes’ on Natural Gas, Infrastructure

natural gas  pipelines  climate  infrastructure  costs 

Mark Green
Posted July 1, 2016

When you see the significant economic, consumer and climate benefits to the U.S. from increased  use of natural gas, it’s quite a puzzle when some won’t take “yes” for an answer – yes to lower energy costs, yes to infrastructure jobs, yes to carbon emissions reductions. Unfortunately for Massachusetts residents, that’s the path the state legislature appears to be taking. More below. First, a review of how clean-burning natural gas is making life better across the rest of the country.

Let’s start with reduced household energy costs, which are helping to lower Americans’ cost of living, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In constant 2015 dollars, EIA says average annual energy costs per household peaked at about $5,300 in 2008 then declined 14.1 percent in 2014.

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Energy Infrastructure Delivers Jobs, Affordable Energy

jobs  infrastructure  natural gas pipelines  investment  economic growth 

Jack Gerard
Posted May 18, 2016

The average American household has saved almost $750 in annual energy costs compared to 2008, according to recent data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Greater availability of domestic oil and natural gas, made possible by hydraulic fracturing, has helped drive down prices for gasoline, electricity and home heating.

Keeping affordable, reliable energy moving to families and businesses requires infrastructure -- pipelines, storage, processing, rail and maritime resources. Candidates often make infrastructure development a centerpiece of their economic plans, promising to create jobs and modernize the U.S. transportation system by improving roads, bridges, rail networks and airports. Energy infrastructure should be on that list. Shovel-ready projects abound in the energy sector.

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Locking Arms on Energy Infrastructure

infrastructure  natural gas pipelines  economic growth  jobs  climate  labor unions 

Mark Green
Posted May 16, 2016

We kick off “Infrastructure Week 2016,” a seven-day focus on America’s infrastructure needs, sponsored by more than 100 trade associations and business and labor groups, with a conversation API President and CEO Jack Gerard and Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, had last week with reporters covering a range of infrastructure and energy policy issues. Highlights below.

Gerard and McGarvey framed the infrastructure discussion by pointing out the way new pipelines, pipeline expansions and other projects are needed to harness America’s energy revolution and spread the benefits of the new energy abundance – to consumers, workers, businesses and to the betterment of the environment – to all parts of the country.

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