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Sun Tax or Consumer Protection? Oklahoma Must Balance Net Metering Issues

CEA’s Tommy Foltz discussed the importance of protecting Oklahoma consumers from cost shifting as we transition to decentralized electricity transmission.

U.S. energy markets, including those in Oklahoma, are in the midst of a massive, forever-changing transformation. Our one-time historical reliance on large, centrally located coal-fired power plants has gradually shifted toward the growing demand for natural gas, renewables and distributed generation. Predictably, this transition presents both opportunities and challenges – not just in economics and infrastructure, but in electricity policy.

Read more – Tulsa World

Colorado Frack Ban Axed

CEA’s Shawn Martini was interviewed by The Progressive Farmer about the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling that local bans on hydraulic fracturing are unconstitutional.

“This is a good thing for agriculture and rural parts of the state because the ruling protects the private property rights of mineral and surface owners and maintains the balance between the surface and mineral estates, and energy development and land-use planning that the current case law and statutes have created over the past few decades,” he said.

Read more – DTN / The Progressive Farmer

Consumer Group Statement on Rejection of Key Pipeline Project

Rochester New York

[bq]”New Yorker’s are tired of politicians playing politics with their pocketbooks.”[/bq]

“We are extremely disappointed that Governor Cuomo has decided to reject the Constitution Pipeline – a necessary, safe, common-sense infrastructure project that would bring clean burning natural gas to New York and the Northeast,” said Consumer Energy Alliance President, David Holt.  

“New Yorker’s are tired of politicians playing politics with their pocketbooks.  The Northeast continues to suffer from some of the highest electricity prices in the country due to poor political decisions instead of thoughtful policy decisions.  On cold winter days, the region simply does not have enough capacity to meet electric generation and home heating demand. Unfortunately, the people who suffer the from these political bottlenecks are the most vulnerable in our society and energy intensive manufacturing.

“In recent years, there has been a series of decisions by powerful politicians in the Northeast to say “no” to nuclear facilities, coal plants, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and to renewable Canadian hydro-power.  These decisions were all made with the promise that a switch to cleaner burning natural gas would be used to meet the basic energy needs of consumers in the region. 

“Yet now these same politicians stand in the way of actually bringing the long-promised natural gas to markets to meet their own directives.

“It’s no wonder that the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that ratepayers in New England paid nearly 50% more than the national average for electricity. The result is half of the top 10 states with the highest electricity prices reside in the Northeast. 

“So what exactly is the plan here?

“At some point we have to get to “yes” and stop being held hostage by the unrealistic demands of anti-development extremists thwarting the critical infrastructure that keeps the lights on and jobs that pay a living wage to support our families.”

Pipeline Opposition Impacting Economic Development, Manufacturers Say

Production assembly line for manufacturing of engines

Manufacturers across the country depend on affordable, reliable natural gas to power their facilities and make products consumers use everyday.

Manufacturing companies, which depend on natural gas as a fuel and feedstock, plan to ramp up their advocacy efforts on behalf of pipeline projects, especially in the Northeast.

Having watched pipeline opponents cripple pipeline projects working through permitting, a group representing the manufacturing industry said it intends to argue for the economic and environmental benefits of the infrastructure.

Read more – SNL Financial

Feds Approve Plan to Build Gas Pipeline for Power Plant

Processing plant

As companies look to build new natural gas fired power plants in Pennsylvania to take advantage of natural gas produced in the state, new pipelines are going through the permit process to reliably supply these plants.

Federal officials have signed off on a plan to build a 34-mile pipeline through five central Pennsylvania counties that will carry natural gas to a power plant being built along the Susquehanna River.

Read more – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Is Spectra Energy New England’s Last Chance for Lower Energy Prices?

CEA’s Brydon Ross was interviewed by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy about opportunities to lower energy costs for New England families and small businesses.

Brydon Ross, Vice President of State Affairs for the Consumer Energy Alliance says that high energy prices will remain onerous unless Connecticut can expand the source of its energy supply. “You can’t shut down nuclear units, shut down coal and say ‘no’ to Canadian hydro and still keep the lights on,” he said. “You can’t say ‘no’ to every available form of energy. Our prices are a direct result of man-made bottlenecks.”

Read more – Yankee Institute for Public Policy

PA Needs More Pipelines

CEA’s Mike Butler was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer discussing the importance of pipelines.

The Philadelphia Energy Action Team, organized by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, recently said in a 60-page analysis that there’s only one way Pennsylvania can make Philadelphia the next mega U.S. energy hub: Get more pipelines in the ground, from one end of the state to another. I can’t argue with that. Neither, I’m sure, could many of my colleagues on Gov. Wolf’s Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force, which recently wrapped up a comprehensive report of its own outlining the importance of pipeline infrastructure and how to safely get the ball rolling on building more – with all of shale’s consumer benefits and environmental-friendly bells and whistles included. But as both reports pointed out, there’s a problem.

Read more – The Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Keep It in the Ground’ Movement Targets Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

CEA’s Brent Greenfield was interviewed by E&E News about the importance of ensuring America can benefit from sustainably produced domestic energy.

While industry may be fairly dismissive of the environmental groups now, officials at Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) believe this to be a mistake. They made their own presence known at the gathering yesterday afternoon in downtown Houston, warning that curtailing offshore opportunities risks needless energy shortages and future economic pain, even given the current global oil abundance and industry downturn from the fallen oil price. “We must continue oil and gas development in conjunction with safe environmental protections in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Brent Greenfield, senior policy director at CEA. “The people who are opposing this have no solution. They don’t have an answer. All they say is ‘no’ to energy development.”

Read more – E&E News

U.S. Consumers Voice Opposition to New Proposed Energy Rule

Santa Fe New Mexico Street with Pedestrians

Houston, Texas – Today, more than 38,000 U.S. consumers spoke out in support of robust energy production. Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) and its members have submitted letters to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) a day before the April 22nd deadline for comments on the proposed Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation rule, commonly called the “Venting and Flaring” rule. The letters are focused on how efforts to explore and produce America’s energy resources will be negatively affected by the proposed rule, which would have significant unintended consequences on local economies, small businesses, school districts, state budgets, and more.

CEA has concerns that the rule would drive up costs in an already difficult market for energy producers, causing a reduction in energy production, and as a result, a drop in job creation, economic growth, energy security, tax receipts, school funding, taxpayer royalties, etc.

“American consumers have once again shown their support for commonsense energy policies and have demonstrated their deep concern with a proposal that would drive up costs, duplicate existing rules, and provide little benefit to taxpayers or the environment, ” says David Holt, president of CEA.

“CEA, our 270 corporate members and 400,000 individual advocates from every sector of the U.S. economy strongly value the contributions that domestic energy production has had for our nation’s consumers. CEA has long advocated for expanded access to responsible energy production as a means to grow our economy and lower energy prices. We urge the BLM to listen to the more than 38,640 consumers and numerous companies and organizations that have joined CEA in calling on the federal government to withdraw the proposed rule.

“Energy production is vital to our local, state and national economy and key to our national energy security. Instead of duplicative, contradictory and costly rules, we should instead focus on how to protect our environment AND develop our domestic energy resources.”

‘Smart Solar’ Amendment Beneficial for Floridians

Solar panel installation

CEA’s Kevin Doyle discusses how solar energy can benefit all Floridians.

Solar energy technology has the power to spark a dramatic and global change in the way energy is harvested and consumed. It is renewable, clean, reliable and increasingly affordable. Each of these is certainly good for all American consumers – and is particularly beneficial for those living in the Sunshine State

Read more – Tallahassee Democrat

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