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In Defense of Locally Produced Energy

Family riding bikes in the woods

CEA’s Chris Ventura compares those who opposed advancements in technology and machinery that lead to the Industrial Revolution back in the 1800s to those today who spread myths about current technological advancements in the energy sector.

And plastics are used for more than just packaging; they’re used to make car seats, bicycle helmets, medical equipment and bathroom accessories, and help vehicles increase fuel efficiency, decreasing emissions. These plastics wouldn’t exist without safe, reliable oil and natural gas.

Read more: Observer-Reporter

Additional Pipeline Capacity Would Replace Need For Flaring

Pipeline construction

Delays in expanding much-needed pipeline infrastructure has led gas that should be going to market and sold for productive uses like generating electricity are instead being vented or flared. Thankfully, the energy industry has come together to alleviate the issue by building more pipelines.

Read more: Midland Reporter-Telegram

Natural Gas is Needed in Virginia

Propane storage tanks

CEA’s Brydon Ross discusses how natural gas and important pipeline infrastructure, like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, help boost Virginia’s economy and grow renewables.

That’s why it’s disappointing to hear that the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline’s completion has been delayed until the middle of next year. This project, like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline — another delayed piece of badly-needed infrastructure — have seen costs skyrocket and work hindered for a variety of reasons, none more prevalent than misguided opposition from a few vocal activists.

Read more – Suffolk News-Herald

Consumer Energy Alliance Launches New Campaign and Report amid Latest Energy Mandate Announcements

Renewable Energy

Following recent energy policy developments, CEA to provide awareness around potential consequences to families and businesses.

TRENTON, N.J. – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) today announced a new campaign aimed at helping families, businesses and lawmakers better understand how energy powers their lives and the need to maintain an all-of-the-above mix of energy resources that includes cleaner-burning natural gas and infrastructure.

The “Powering People” campaign, launched today in conjunction with the group’s latest energy savings report for New Jersey, entitled “A Steady Stream of Natural Gas Has Helped the Garden State Grow.” The two were precipitated by the release of the State’s Energy Master Plan (EMP), which could potentially increase prices by eliminating options, such as greater access to natural gas for home-heating and reliable energy, and replacing it with a 100 percent clean-energy plan led by renewables by 2050. The various conversion, installation and operating costs, which would collectively surge into the billions of dollars, would be footed by taxpayers and consumers.

This plan would only work to unravel the more than $21.2 billion in energy expenses New Jersey families, businesses and farmers saved between 2006 and 2016, the report by CEA says. In all, households saved more than $11.5 billion and commercial and industrial users including manufacturers saved nearly $9.7 billion. All of these savings could become endangered should policymakers cater to anti-energy activists. In reality, natural gas helps complement the build-out of renewable energy development in New Jersey and across the nation.

In response, CEA created Powering People which will work to alleviate and depoliticize the divisive rhetoric surrounding energy production and infrastructure. It will also explain how a mix of energy sources, if carried out responsibly, can reduce price spikes and system bottlenecks on high-demand days like the dead of winter and the dog days of summer.

“This campaign is about holding the energy industry to a higher standard while also bringing more awareness to public officials and communities about how rejecting or delaying critical energy production, infrastructure, delivery and diversity hurts lower-income households and those on fixed incomes,” Mike Butler, Mid-Atlantic Director for CEA, said.

“Thanks to cleaner-burning natural gas and safer, state-of-the-art technologies, the energy industry has lowered expenses and emissions regionally and nationally. With the right regulatory climate, it can and will continue to do the same, all while enabling greater use of renewables sustainably and responsibly ” Butler added.

The movement will also highlight the often-forgotten economic and environmental harms caused by anti-pipeline and anti-development organizations. The goal is to give communities a more balanced perspective to help advance policies that support environmental standards and energy production and delivery, evenly.

“Families, businesses and producers want the same thing: to protect the environment and power our way of life, safely and affordably,” Butler said. “But each New Jersey resident spent $3,124 to meet their energy needs in 2016 – more than those in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland pay. New Jersey also ranks 11th nationally in energy expenditures. The cause is the state’s natural gas market, which remains very constrained and has led to higher costs for all residents, including the 10 percent in poverty. We can help with more investment in infrastructure.”

According to the report, the oil and natural gas industry contributed 142,200 jobs and more than $10 billion in wages to New Jersey as recently as 2015. It also provided nearly $21 billion to the state’s economy. Add in manufacturing, which uses natural gas as an essential feedstock, and those figures go up. Manufacturing contributed $34.3 billion to the state’s economy and employed over 161,000 regional workers in 2016, the report says. These jobs and contributions to the state’s economy are dependent on adequate access to an affordable and reliable energy supply, and the infrastructure that makes it all possible.

“There are pipelines planned or under construction statewide that will help safely transport more of the natural gas we need from next-door states with record production,” Butler said. “However, several policymakers, backed by anti-energy activists, continue to fight natural gas, thwarting or curtailing the construction of pipelines and having the state tied up in redundant litigation. That makes residents and businesses who are already highly taxed pay more.

“Instead of saying no to much-needed infrastructure, lawmakers looking to give their constituents relief should look into the extensive list of benefits of natural gas. Those include emissions reductions, lower energy bills, job creation, tax revenue and support for renewables, be it from the manufacturing of windmills and solar panels to generating electricity during times of intermittent supply.”

To view the report, click here or learn more about Powering People, click here.

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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) brings together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers and manufacturers to support America’s energy future. With more than 500,000 members nationwide, our mission is to help ensure stable prices and energy security for households across the country. We believe energy development is something that touches everyone in our nation, and thus it is necessary for all of us to actively engage in the conversation about how we develop our diverse energy resources and energy’s importance to the economy. Learn more at ConsumerEnergyAlliance.org.

Contact:
Emily Haggstrom
P: 720-582-0242
ehaggstrom@consumerenergyalliance.org

Is this Part-Time Job, Part-Time Mom Deal Worth It?

moms

Most women experience a range of emotions when sending their children off to daycare or kindergarten for the first time. Some experience relief, while others suffer from an absence. Some are excited to go back to work; others are reluctant.

Women who return to the workforce often carry the title “working moms” because they miraculously handle nearly every task seamlessly at work, and home. For some working moms, part-time contract work from home is the perfect answer.

According to Decide Consulting, freelance work is surging in popularity, and they point to a survey by the Freelancers Union that tallies nearly 55 million Americans on board as contract employees – that’s around 35 percent of the total workforce. This number is expected to reach 40-50 percent by the year 2020. The term most associated with describing a part-time, project by project, the work-from-home gig is “freelancer.”

Aside from the additional, or re-found, income people get from freelancing; there are tax benefits and cost-of-business deductions that can also be a plus if you work from home.

For example, that empty spare bedroom can now be written off as a home office. Mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and printers that you might be purchasing anyway can also become legitimate deductible business expenses. TurboTax says if your office space takes up 20 percent of the house, you can deduct 20 percent of your bills for utilities, homeowners insurance, homeowners association fees, security, as well as general repairs and maintenance. Mortgage interest and property taxes are deductible expenses also on the table if you qualify for home office deductions.

Twenty percent is a significant saving.

Perhaps the most important question to ask: if being a working mom or freelancing is all in the name of saving – or making – a little money, where is that money going?

If most of your income is going to merely cover daycare, you might rethink if the time at work, away from your kids, is actually worth it. It’s a cost-benefit analysis of each family factors differently. There’s one thing for certain – there are no easy answers.

As you’re looking for ways to save money on your home office expenses, one area I wouldn’t count on big savings is on your energy bill. Unless you require a blistering 85-degree working environment at home, or a frigid 65, don’t be surprised if this category doesn’t change much.

That’s because Americans are experiencing significant energy savings already. That’s not to say household energy consumption audits are a bad idea, but overall, that’s not where most of your savings will be found if you work from home. Energy savings can be hard to notice because America has kicked its domestic energy production into high gear. Earlier this year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirmed the United States emerged as the world’s top producer of natural gas and U.S. natural gas production surpassed that of Russia. Since 2009, U.S. oil and natural gas production have increased by nearly 60 percent.

Whether it’s federal and state income tax, or the tax that you pay for goods and services, according to QuickBooks the state in which you live can have a big impact on your tax burden and subsequently how much money you earn. So if you’re bound to the city where you reside, you could be making less than neighboring states and ultimately what you pocket at the end of the day.

Thanks to record energy production and safer, state-of-the-art technologies, which has significantly reduced the price of natural gas, residents in states like Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are all saving billions of dollars according to the data we’ve collected from our recent reports. So if you’re a resident of one of these states, I guess that makes yours an even better place to live and be self-employed.

Consumer Group Expresses Concern over Rushed Passage of Energy Legislation, Argues There is a Better Way to Meet Goals and Help NY Families

New York City Skyline

Albany, NY — Today, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) expressed deep disappointment in the New York General Assembly and Governor Andrew Cuomo for their rushed efforts to concoct a bill in the final days of the Assembly’s legislative session, which will further distort an already stretched and dysfunctional state energy policy.

This measure went forward without any public input, independent cost analyses, or understanding of the underlying energy supply dynamics. It is especially upsetting because it appears the public will only truly understand the harmful cost impacts to its communities, families, small businesses, and state economy after the law takes effect, and New Yorkers are denied affordable energy and much-needed infrastructure.

In response, Wendy Hijos, Executive Director for CEA in New York, issued the following statement:

“There is a better way to achieve our environmental goals and accelerate the build-out of our renewable resources without saddling New Yorkers with even higher prices that further deplete their disposable income. We can and should expand renewables in our state to improve our environment, but not in a way that will punish consumers who need affordable energy.

“It’s time for real, thoughtful solutions that aren’t created in a rush without any comment from the very people whom it will affect. People across the state deserve better than this. They deserve access to real, tangible energy solutions from all available resources.”

“We cannot overstate the very real, negative ramifications of this action by the Assembly. New Yorkers woke up this morning to learn that a new, sweeping version of energy legislation, which was agreed to with no public hearing or cost estimate, was rushed through in the last days of session to avoid scrutiny and explanation.

“The new version of the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) pushed by extreme activist groups will abandon millions of people who currently struggle to pay their energy bills across our state – which are among the highest in the country. The bill does nothing to solve the gas service moratoriums currently in place that curtail economic development and halt new opportunities for our highly skilled labor community. The bill does nothing to meet our energy and environmental challenges. We need to stop playing politics with our energy.”

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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading consumer advocate for energy, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, our mission is to help ensure stable prices and energy security for households and businesses across the country. CEA works daily to encourage people across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our energy needs.

Contact:
Emily Haggstrom
P: 720-582-0242
ehaggstrom@consumerenergyalliance.org

Imagine Moving and Your Power Company Says You Can’t Have Service

Young family moving into a new house

One of the most well-known power outages in U.S. history took place in New York in 2003.  All told, 50 million people lost power for approximately two days. Some 15 years later, experts are still studying the ramifications.

For a variety of reasons, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states in the U.S. seem to have a challenging energy situation. Part of it has to do with geographical location. Part of it has to do with history and the types of fuels that have traditionally been used – it’s the oldest part of the U.S. and therefore has challenges created by past infrastructure and the way we used to build homes. The other part of it has to do with policy choices made by elected officials. Sadly, the latter has made the most significant impact on families and businesses in these regions.

While a loss of power is incredibly inconvenient, it’s no match for a loss of heat or air – especially during scorching summers or frigid winter months. Sitting in the dark is one thing. Sitting (sweating or freezing) in the dark is entirely different.

It can be downright scary. (Just listen to this story from Danny Barber)

While places in the Rockies are still thawing out from a record winter snowfall that lasted into late Spring, parts of the East Coast, including New Jersey, are experiencing heavy rains, forcing residents to stay inside to beat the hot, sticky temperatures. There’s only one way to beat sticky – air-conditioning.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), three-quarters of all U.S. homes have air-conditioning. This accounts for roughly 6% of the energy we use, but more importantly, it accounts for approximately $29 billion annually to individuals and families.  That means a broad swath of people, from the elderly to the low-income, are all reliant on the successful delivery of natural gas to air-condition their homes.

However, just a month ago, it was reported that some residents in New York were struggling with not only increased electricity costs and unreliable energy supply but in some cases, getting access at all after the local utility announced a moratorium on new natural gas customers. The decision for a second moratorium by National Grid was made after the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline was denied. Now it is not just air-conditioning that is threatened. It’s cooking and heating too.

What’s so strange about these moratoriums and rising costs is that they run contrary to the news that the US is the number one producer of natural gas. If supply isn’t the problem, and demand for cooling, cooking, and heating isn’t the problem, then what is? What could be stopping natural gas from reaching those who need it most?

Turns out, it’s delivery. You can’t really move natural gas by rail or truck in mass quantities like you can with oil and other liquid fuels, and you can’t send it over transmission lines like you can electricity. Without question, pipelines are the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to transport this critically-needed fuel.

Enter pipeline protestors and their enablers. The “Keep-It-In-the-Ground” movement, or KIITG, under the guise of climate change activism is responsible for the interruption of natural gas to Americans. This started when the false claims against fracking were disproven, and these groups needed a new enemy – enter the assault against pipelines. The only problem with protesting pipelines – they carry the fuel you need – even if you don’t know you need it.

Can you imagine moving somewhere – especially somewhere cold like the Northeast in winter or hot and humid like Rochester in the summer — and then you were told you couldn’t have natural gas?  It’s like going to the DMV and learning that they can’t issue any more drivers licenses.

That’s frightening because the alternatives are likely to cost you even more. No fuel is perfect, but natural gas is clean, abundant, and affordable, and it’s helped our country wean itself from importing foreign energy and reduce our emissions. In Pennsylvania, consumers saved more than $30 billion over ten years, and in New York, consumers saved almost $30.9 billion thanks in part to low natural gas prices.

Anti-development protesters have the right to free speech and free assembly to assert their views. That’s what it means to be American. However, they need to come forward with real solutions to meet our energy needs – especially for those who can least afford it.

Consumer Energy Group Applauds the Administration for Continuing its Review of the Line 3 Replacement Project

Inside view of a pipeline

Minneapolis, MN – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) Midwest Executive Director Chris Ventura, following today’s joint statement by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MNPCA) and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regarding the two agencies efforts to ‘ensure coordination on the realignment of the permitting processes to the final Public Utilities Schedule’ spoke out for the consumer group saying:

“We applaud the Walz administration for taking fast action on the recommendations of the Minnesota Court of Appeals to review the Line 3 Replacement Project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement. Moreover, we are encouraged that the administration is simultaneously working on the environmental review and permit applications for this vital project which will help to modernize Minnesota’s energy infrastructure, support jobs for Minnesotans, and continue to provide reliable and affordable energy to communities across the state.

“This is a marked step by the administration as it sticks to its word, working to establish a productive process for the Line 3 Replacement project and the states due diligence for the public while also taking all consumers into consideration.”

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About Consumer Energy Alliance

(CEA) is the leading consumer advocate for energy, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, our mission is to help ensure stable prices and energy security for households and businesses across the country. CEA works daily to encourage people across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our energy needs.

Contact:
Emily Haggstrom
P: 720-582-0242
ehaggstrom@consumerenergyalliance.org

 

 

Consumer Group Applauds Governor DeWine and Workers for Engaging on the Importance of Line 5 Energy

Detroit Skyline Aerial View With Lighthouse, Marina, and River

Toledo, OH – Today, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) Midwest Executive Director Chris Ventura joined Lt. Gov. John Husted, United Steel Workers, and others at a rally at Toledo Refining Company to talk about the importance of Line 5 to Toledo’s refiners and the Ohio economy at large. Following the rally, Ventura made the following statement:

“Line 5 is not just important to Michigan. It is critical for the whole Great Lakes region. State-commissioned independent studies have already shown that shutting down Line 5 will harm the state of Michigan.  However, the negative impacts on Ohio have not even been fully quantified or realized. The fuel Line 5 delivers the fuel source for refiners in Ohio who make essential items and provide vital jobs for our communities.”

“As former Governor Synder of Michigan already laid out with his independent board, Line 5 is essential to meeting the needs of communities, families, and business. Policymakers who ignore these unbiased studies and refuse to acknowledge the economic and environmental importance of the infrastructure project shows a blatant disregard for the people they have been charged to represent.

“We applaud Governor DeWine for standing up in support of Ohio jobs and the families. It’s time people get the facts about this project and realize the real work done by the hard-working members of the entire Great Lakes community – especially here in Ohio. Without Line 5, Michigan and Toledo refiners will be in dire straits.”

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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading consumer advocate for energy, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, our mission is to help ensure stable prices and energy security for households and businesses across the country. CEA works daily to encourage people across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our energy needs.

Contact:
Emily Haggstrom
P: 720-582-0242
ehaggstrom@consumerenergyalliance.org

 

Please Tell Me I’m Not the Only One Living Paycheck to Paycheck?

side hustle

Most people are familiar with the term, “keeping up with the Joneses” or at the very least recognize the phenomenon that happens with the human psyche, especially here in America, where we constantly compare ourselves with others and then feel like we have to keep up or stay ahead of them. Failing to “keep up with the Joneses” is perceived as demonstrating socio-economic or class inferiority.

But it can sure cost you.

The reality is, you don’t even have to get stuck in this trap to fall “financially behind.” It’s become an all too common cycle, and actually, a majority of individuals and families find themselves in this cash-strapped rut. Your paycheck gets deposited, groceries purchased, bills paid, and then you’re broke again, or watching every penny, until the next payday.

Paycheck to paycheck is an expression used to describe an individual who would be unable to meet financial obligations if unemployed because his or her salary is predominantly devoted to expenses. Nearly 8 out of 10 workers – or 78 percent – live paycheck to paycheck, according to a new survey from CareerBuilder.com. That’s up from 75 percent last year, and it applies even to those making six figures.

Need help? Don’t worry; there is no shortage of self-help guides and videos on the internet. Not to mention posts about best practices in budgeting.

Nearly every one seems to share the same starting strategy: first, track your spending over the course of a few weeks, and two, take a hard look at your expenses and place everything in two categories: needs vs. wants. In the world of economics, that’s called mandatory (i.e., required) vs. discretionary spending (i.e., what you’d like to spend, but really don’t have to.)

As Kate Ashford, personal finance expert points out, “If you’re putting away adequate savings for your goals and you have a healthy emergency fund, living paycheck to paycheck isn’t necessarily a disaster.”

Unfortunately, nearly 25 percent of Americans have no money saved for an emergency, according to Bankrate, and 20 percent have less than three months of living expenses in the bank.

Some people have taken to “side hustles” in the hopes of making an extra couple bucks — everything from Uber and Lyft to Task Rabbit and tutoring sites. Keep researching ways to save online and you’ll find all kinds of crazy things people are willing to do to squirrel away more money. One even suggested asking for extra condiments, utensils, and napkins at fast-food restaurants as away to save $20 per month.

That may be taking it a little far.

But there is definitely some good news in terms of energy costs. If you haven’t noticed, you’re either living under a rock, or perhaps you don’t own a car, but the price of gas at the pump is nearly at an all-time low. Some compare that to a tax cut, putting money back into your pocket. Not filling up as regular is a plus on both your time and budget and that’s a welcome relief to anyone who is trying to help stretch today’s paycheck just a tad bit further than tomorrow.

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