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Kinder Morgan Authorizes $2B Permian Highway Pipeline

Oil tank farm at port

With continued pipeline constraints preventing oil and natural gas from reaching energy consumers, new projects are being planned that will bring new employment and help keep energy prices from rising.

The project is part of the race to build gas and oil pipelines from the booming Permian Basin to refining and port hubs near Houston and Corpus Christi. Permian production is currently stalling from pipeline shortages to carry the oil and gas out of rural and landlocked West Texas.

Read more – The Houston Chronicle

Report: Pennsylvania Consumers Saved More Than $30 Billion Over 10 Years from Lower Natural Gas Prices

PITTSBURGH, P.A.  — Thanks to increased production and new technologies, which have decreased the price of natural gas, Pennsylvanians saved more than $30.5 billion between 2006 and 2016, according to a new state report released today by Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) with calculations developed by Orion Strategies.

Residential users alone saved almost $13.3 billion, while commercial and industrial users saved upwards of $17.2 billion, the report, titled “Everyday Energy for Pennsylvania,” said. The analysis examined how the shale revolution across the Marcellus region has provided benefits to the Keystone State’s end-use energy consumers by boosting disposable income and economic investment, as well as revitalizing communities.

CEA’s report examines the benefits of Pennsylvania’s energy production and its role in providing reliable and affordable energy that keeps the lives and the businesses of Pennsylvania moving. CEA continues to strongly support the development of natural gas and other traditional and alternative energy sources while urging policymakers to support the state’s homegrown energy production to ensure Pennsylvania’s hard-working families, seniors, households, and small businesses can continue to enjoy the benefits that low prices are bringing to communities.

Highlights from the report include:

  • Due to increased production and new technologies, Pennsylvania natural gas consumers have saved over $30.5 billion between 2006 and 2016 simply as a result of the decreasing price of natural gas – with residential users saving over $13.3 billion, while commercial and industrial users saved over $17.2 billion.
  • In 2008, at the beginning of the shale revolution, prices for natural gas in Pennsylvania peaked at $10.39 per thousand cubic feet and steadily decreased to just $3.72 by 2016.
  • Half of all Pennsylvanians rely on natural gas as their primary heating fuel and a growing number of electric generation facilities are utilizing natural gas to power the state. Electricity accounts for nearly half of the natural gas consumed in Pennsylvania.
  • Nearly 1.6 million Pennsylvanians, or 12.9 percent of the population, live in poverty. On average, Pennsylvanians spent $3,108 for their energy needs in 2016.   For those living at or below the poverty line, this translates to at least 25.6 percent of their income going toward energy expenses.
  • Pennsylvania’s abundant energy resources have spurred economic investment and brought jobs to the state. Studies have tallied nearly 322,600 jobs in Pennsylvania that provide nearly $23 billion in wages to Pennsylvanians.
  • In 2017, the median annual salary for an employee at one of Pennsylvania’s top oil and natural gas producers exceeded $113,000. These wages support local economies and grow small businesses.  In fact, the report attributed almost $44.5 billion in economic impact from the state’s oil and gas industry.
  • In 2017, high production rates in the Marcellus region generated high demand for pipeline transport of natural gas supplies. Because of this increase, Pennsylvania saw the oil and gas pipeline industry grow 153.5 percent – creating jobs for over 21,000 workers.

“This report highlights the benefits Pennsylvania’s communities are receiving as a result of the state’s role in the U.S. energy revolution and investment in our state’s energy infrastructure,” said Mike Butler, CEA’s Mid-Atlantic Executive Director. “From the small family farms sprinkled across rural Western Pennsylvania to the sprawling urban industrial areas of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, lower fuel prices have helped Pennsylvanians save over $30 billion in the past decade. While it is easy to take many of these benefits for granted, it is important to remember that each of us has a stake in making sure we meet our energy needs.”

Butler added, “Fortunately, the benefits from the increased production of Pennsylvania’s energy resources are not just limited to residential consumer savings, energy development has also led to the increase in economic investment and job creation we’ve seen over the past decade.”

“Despite the tremendous benefits and critical importance of energy production to Pennsylvanians, the future of Pennsylvania’s energy is threatened by out-of-state activists, some funded by foreign governments, who continue working to eliminate the production of safe, affordable sources of energy without offering any solutions that will help meet consumer demand while also supporting our environmental goals. CEA strongly encourages all of Pennsylvania’s elected leaders to embrace the benefits and growth potential that all energy production, especially natural gas, brings to families, farms, and factories throughout the Keystone State.”

To view the report, 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

About Orion Strategies

Orion Strategies is a strategic communications and public relations firm with a staff of experienced professionals in public relations, government affairs, grassroots advocacy, polling, research, and creative services. Orion Strategies provides the tools, as well as the expertise, to meet client needs.

Contact:
Brittany Ramos
bramos@orion-strategies.com

The Next Big Job Boom in Texas: Oil Pipelines

Semi trucks on the road

With serious infrastructure constraints caused by the production of more American energy resources, energy consumers need new pipelines to bring oil and natural gas to the market to help put downward pressure on prices.

Oil producers are forced to turn to alternative short term solutions, such as trucks and rail, to keep production flowing off the worksite. This is soon all to change though, as major oil pipelines are to be built and come online between 2019-2020.

Read more – The Hayride

Energy Transfer, Magellan and More Team up for Permian Pipeline Project

Stack of pipelines

Booming American energy production has resulted in pipeline bottlenecks, preventing additional supplies of energy, which could help lower prices, from reaching consumers across the country.

Oil drilling and well completions activities are slowing in the Permian because of the lack of pipelines to carry the oil. More companies are relying on trucks and trains to move the crude until new pipelines start coming online in the middle of 2019.

Read more – The Houston Chronicle

With Pipelines Full, Oil and Gas Companies Turning to Trucks, Rail

Tanker truck with American flag

As we have previously reported, our increasingly constrained infrastructure hampers economic development and causes families, farmers, and businesses to pay more for the energy they need to get by.

The bottlenecks, meanwhile, are not only having an impact on prices in West Texas prices, but also production. The Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees the oil and gas industry, recently reported that oil production in the state — most of it concentrated in the Permian — declined about 2 percent in June, compared to the same month a year earlier, the first year-over-year decline since early 2017. Analysts attributed the decrease to the pipeline shortage.

Read more – The Houston Chronicle

Pipelines Make Energy Safer, More Affordable

Family grilling

Tim Page, Executive Director of CEA Southeast, discusses why energy infrastructure needs to be a part of the conversation when Virginia’s Division of Energy reviews the Commonwealth’s strategic energy policy.

Approve the build-out of more pipelines, which federal and industry studies show are 4.5 times safer than moving the same amount of energy across the same distance by any other means. Pipelines also reduce emissions by transporting fuel underground and taking vehicles off roadways.

Read more – Richmond Times-Dispatch

Energy Grows Meals For Families

Family cooking breakfast

Being a parent to a family is tough. Being a parent at home, during summer vacation with four kids ages 12, 9, 8 and 5 running around that house is downright brutal.

During the school year, we hit it pretty hard. Class during the day, sports for three of the kids and dance for the other, then its dinner and homework in the evening. The weekends usually consist of traveling to various matches or recitals, and get-togethers with friends and family.  And yes, then we do it all over again the next week.

The routine keeps us going and it also keeps the household in order.  Ok, let’s be honest and call it what it is— it’s organized chaos!  But it works for us.

So when summer vacation arrived, I admit that we took things pretty easy at our house.  Our kid’s sleep in if they want, eat cereal or bagels whenever they’re ready, and watch a show or play video games while they “veg” out.  I figure they’ve earned it.  And it’s what I did with my siblings growing up. We certainly don’t do that all day every day, but it’s definitely been our routine for the last couple of months since school ended.  With the kids occupied, the morning hours allow me to finish chores and decide on what activities will occupy our day.

Once we have our plans set, I usually step it up a notch with a solid lunch and something substantial for dinner. Because I’m not shuttling the kids back and forth to school and practices twice (sometimes three) times a day, I concentrate on true home-cooked meals for the evening.  It’s also when my husband is home from work and we can sit down together as a family.

I’ve also become addicted to sharing my fabulous summer suppers on social media – I know, so cliché, and I also realize it’s not the most spectacular hobby, but it’s what I do.  I just feel as if it helps someone else, then I’ve done my job.

Tonight was supposed to be a special dinner since my husband was returning from a long work trip, and as it turned out, his parents would be landing the same time so we were counting on dinner for 8 tonight. And yes, even after 15 years of marriage, having the in-laws for a visit still stresses me out.

Thankfully, I was prepared. I had already bought NY strip steak, jumbo shrimp and all the ingredients for a new salad I wanted to try. And I had both my husband and father-in-law’s favorite beer chilled and ready for their arrival.

At least, that was until a knock at the door from a utility worker informing us our power would be down indefinitely.  A multi-car auto accident sent a vehicle crashing into a power transponder near our neighborhood and it would definitely take all day (maybe longer) to repair it.

Our routine and my big plans to impress everyone were quickly upended.

No television or tablets unless the kids remembered to charge them (which they didn’t.)  Definitely no video games. The milk in the fridge was cold for now, but probably not much longer.  No toaster or oven for our bagels. Chances of a substantial lunch just dropped significantly. Rotting steak and spoiled shrimp would likely end up in the trash.  It’s safe to say, a dinner to remember was quickly becoming one I hoped to forget!

I hadn’t thought about how important and reliant we are on energy. Even though the kids are out of school, this will likely be a lesson they’ll always remember.

Schlumberger CEO Warns Transport Constraints to Slow Shale Gains

Texas drilling rig

With production of oil and natural gas in Texas reaching historic levels, current infrastructure has reached capacity to bring this energy to consumers across the state which limits investment and energy savings.

The chief executive of the largest oilfield service provider, Schlumberger, warned on Tuesday that bottlenecks in the largest U.S. shale basin would slow oil production growth and investments in the region.

Read more – Reuters

Report: Pipeline Constraints Could Curtail $1.4 Billion in Permian Completions

Two steel construction workers welding metal

Across the country, infrastructure constraints continue to prevent communities from realizing their potential for economic growth and the creation of new employment opportunities.

Upwards of $1.4 billion in completions of oil and gas wells in West Texas’ Permian Basin could be delayed or reallocated to other shale plays through 2019 due to pipeline constraints, a new report says.

Read more – The Houston Chronicle

Hurricane Preparedness During Power Loss

Emergency Preparedness Supplies

While we’ve already seen the start of hurricane season in July, The Weather Channel is predicting the true season to start in just two weeks. Hurricanes and other severe storms can pose a serious safety risk, especially to those who are not adequately prepared. Knowing what steps need to be taken when sheltering in place is never a consideration that should be left to last minute or to chance. Serious storms have the potential to cause extensive damage not only to infrastructure but to the equipment needed to deliver electricity to our homes. Knowing how to best prepare for power outages can be of critical importance, especially in situations where outages may last for days or even weeks. And with the most active hurricane month right on our heels, it is time for people in coastal communities to prepare.

Emergency Lighting

Finding a ready source of illumination after a storm or hurricane is often the most pressing concern during an outage. Fumbling around in the dark can complicate every other aspect of storm preparation and leave households unable to react or respond to potential threats effectively. Stocking up on both candles and batteries for battery-powered lights is always essential when preparing for a storm. Inexpensive long-lasting LED lights can often provide a superior alternative to candles, although there are situations where either a flashlight or a candle may be more beneficial and households would do well to stock up on both options. The addition of a crank-operated emergency flashlight or small solar-powered lights and chargers are also a smart move.

Radios, Phones, and Communication

Once a source of illumination has been found, the next priority is restoring communication. Being unable to call for help, receive emergency broadcasts or even access the latest hurricane and weather forecasts during a storm can be very dangerous. Investing in an extra battery or charging storage for smartphones and ensuring that radios can be powered for as long as is necessary can end up making a life-saving difference. Devices that make use of a small solar panel or a hand-crank in order to power a radio or charge a phone battery can be a critical resource during a prolonged outage.

Garage Doors, Security Systems, and Home Access

From the stair lifts needed to assist those who suffer from a mobility impairment to garage doors that may block access to needed supplies within the home, a sudden loss of power could lead to many problems that are often easy to overlook. Taking time to double or even triple check that all access points to the home have been properly secured or to deal with any equipment that may become a potential obstacle or barrier in the event of a power outage is always a smart move. In the event you needed to leave through the garage, you can do this manually. First, make sure the door is closed all the way, then find the emergency cord and pull it to disconnect the garage from the opener. From there, you can lift it manually!

Food, Water, and Medication Storage

While food and water may seem like important concerns, they are actually far less pressing than many households might expect. Some ice and a portable cooler are often all that is needed in order to ensure that the contents of the refrigerator will survive a short-term outage. If you’re anticipating a larger storm that may cause more extensive damage or lasting blackouts, stocking up on canned foods and other items that don’t require refrigeration. Make sure to keep refrigerators and freezers closed unless absolutely needed. Try to keep a cooler for things you might want to access regularly. You can fill the cooler with baggies filled with water that can be frozen prior to the storm to work as an ice pack at first and later as drinking water. This is a way to store as much water with one box of plastic bags and save money when bottled water is in short supply – it also helps eliminate waste.

After the hurricanes in Puerto Rico and Houston, people had issues with their health because their medications needed to be cold. Check to see if your medication needs to be at a certain temperature or cooled, so you can pack it safely in the fridge or cooler. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says that a refrigerator will keep food and other items like medication cold for about four hours. A full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours. So if you need to keep your medication cool, you can transfer it to the freezer once it’s not as cold.

Staying Focused and Organized During Storm Preparation

Hurricanes are often a far more serious threat than many home and property owners might expect. Proper preparations can go a long way towards ensuring that the storm and its aftermath can be weathered with greater ease, superior comfort, and minimal risk. Creating and maintaining a checklist will help you minimize the chances that something important may go overlooked and will help to ensure that households know what do to both before and after a storm.

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