CEA’s President David Holt talked with Shara and Jim on Houston’s Morning News about soaring energy prices and the necessity of oil and natural gas production to ensure affordable energy prices while continuing to advance our use of renewable energy.
Listen here – KTRH AM 740
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Removing natural gas service and usage could cost Baltimore households more than $26,000 each, a Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) analysis found. The report “The Hidden Costs of a Maryland Natural Gas Ban,” examined the high cost to Maryland families and businesses from denying critical natural gas service. Misguided policies could greatly impact Maryland families and households that rely on natural gas for home heating, by forcing a conversion to electric service either with punitive building codes during construction or with equipment replacement and home remodeling costs.
The report examined what the cost implications of forced electrification on Baltimore families and consumers would be, depending on household appliance models, home configuration, labor and reliance on natural gas. It also examined the additional transmission line infrastructure that would be required to fulfill requirements to “electrify everything.” Using open-source consumer data, CEA developed a cost calculator to provide an estimate of what a typical household in the Baltimore area could expect to pay if policies to remove natural gas service and usage are put into place.
These findings dovetail with previous CEA research which found that the cost to replace just major gas appliances in homes nationwide would be more than $258 billion.
“With more than 40% of Maryland homes relying on natural gas during the winter for heat, banning such a critical resource would be a devastating blow to families who would have to pay more than $26,000 to involuntarily reconfigure their home and purchase new appliances. A ban on natural gas would also lead to an increase in energy bills, placing an unnecessary burden on the nearly one in 10 Marylanders who live at or below the poverty level, those on fixed incomes, and businesses still recovering from the hardships of COVID-19,” said CEA Mid-Atlantic Executive Director Mike Butler.
“While CEA supports voluntary efforts by consumers to use the types of appliances and services they prefer, forcing actions onto them must be balanced against the costs to households and real-world, practical considerations,” he said.
Commenting on how banning natural gas would hurt jobs, Baltimore-D.C. Building Trades President Stephen Courtien said: “Mandating electrification and banning gas hook-ups to new construction would cause serious harm to working families across Maryland. This proposed legislation threatens to eliminate hundreds of middle-class career opportunities in the gas industry, which has long provided family-sustaining wages and benefits to local residents. Time and time again, we are promised that replacement jobs will provide the same career quality as what was replaced, but we unfortunately have not seen this to be true – especially in the energy production sector.”
The report also highlights data from the Environmental Protection Agency, which shows that from 1990 to 2020, Maryland’s emissions have decreased across the board, including:
“Maryland has achieved remarkable reductions in emissions even as natural gas use increased and pipeline infrastructure expanded, and the state’s economy surged. Misguided attempts to ban energy services will only lead to undue financial burdens on Maryland’s families, seniors and small businesses and work against our economic and environmental goals,” Butler said.
“Consumers should retain the right to keep the energy service they want and choose appliances they wish to use. Natural gas serves an important role in our energy mix as an always-on option, ensuring consumers have the power and heat they need, when they need it. We hope officials and lawmakers recognize the opportunities for natural gas and its infrastructure to play an important, complementary role in reaching net-zero objectives.” Butler said.
To view the report, click here.
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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, 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, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
(202) 657-2855
bhull@consumerenergyalliance.org
CEA Mid-Atlantic Executive Director Mike Butler looks at how new investment in Pennsylvania will create jobs while also contributing to sustaining our environment by creating lower-carbon gasoline with less industrial emissions.
You would think that opponents of new environmentally responsible energy projects would embrace the Nacero natural-gas-to-gasoline facility proposed for Newport Twp., not seek to delay or cancel it. The plant is a transformative step-change for lower emissions. It would use the region’s abundant natural gas to generate gasoline with zero sulfur emissions and 50% fewer carbon dioxide emissions.
Read more – The Citizens’ Voice
Michael Zehr, CEA’s Federal Affairs Advisor, recently spoke about the negative impact suspending oil and gas leasing in Gulf of Mexico would have on the ability for the United States to reach the goals of the Paris Accords on climate.
“These actions offer few if any environmental benefits – especially when considering that taking American production offline means demand will be met by increased output from more carbon-intensive producers like OPEC, Russia, and Saudi Arabia,” Zehr added. “High prices caused US coal-fired generation to rise 17%, the first increase in seven years and an unfortunate 2021 report card for a nation that has led the world in absolute emissions reductions for two decades.”
Read more – Gas Pathways
WASHINGTON – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) Federal Affairs Adviser Michael Zehr made the following statement in advance of Thursday’s House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources hearing entitled “What More Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Leasing Means for Achieving U.S. Climate Targets.”
“American parents, families and small businesses are paying a dollar a gallon more at the pump this year—a 50% increase over last year. High fuel prices and growing energy bills are key factors driving inflation to 40-year highs, making everything more expensive for American families still struggling from the economic challenges and uncertainty brought by COVID-19.”
“Some economists claim the high energy prices are due to supply and demand imbalances along with international efforts, largely led by OPEC+, to limit supplies. Similar efforts to limit supply are being undertaken at home through an array of regulatory and legislative moves to make U.S. oil and gas production harder and more expensive, which is creating uncertainty, the enemy of new investment.”
“These actions offer few if any environmental benefits – especially when considering that taking American production offline means demand will be met by increased output from more carbon-intensive producers like OPEC, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.”
“The Administration has also failed to help send positive market signals by initiating the 18-month process of creating a Congressionally mandated five-year plan for much-needed federal offshore oil and gas leasing, which governs one of the most lucrative programs for our Treasury. The current plan expires on July 1.”
“High prices for gasoline, oil and natural gas have hurt families financially, and resulted in greater carbon emissions tied to climate change over the last year. High prices caused U.S. coal-fired generation to rise 17%, the first increase in seven years and an unfortunate 2021 report card for a nation that has led the world in absolute emissions reductions for two decades.”
“Rather than penalizing U.S. families through higher gas and energy bills, leaders should advance energy policies to incentivize and expedite deployment of renewables; carbon capture, usage and storage; renewable natural gas; advanced nuclear; hydropower and broader international consumption of U.S. LNG to displace coal.”
“Increasingly efficient and continually cleaner development of oil and gas in the U.S. is essential to meeting our global energy needs and ensuring we achieve our net zero goals without causing severe economic strains that would turn the public against these ambitions.”
“U.S. companies are leading the way towards a lower carbon future but for these energy transition gains to be maintained, expanded and exported—they must bring benefits to families, consumers and small businesses instead of higher costs now being either ignored or portrayed as sacrifices we all must make. Done right, no one need suffer – but first we have to be honest about what’s technically possible and the real effects our policies will have.”
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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, 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, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
(202) 657-2855
bhull@consumerenergyalliance.org
CEA President Holt examines the history of offshore leasing for energy exploration and production and how freezing federal lease sales leads to higher gas prices for families and small businesses.
Since 1953, the U.S. Interior Secretary has been required by law to prepare a five-year plan to set a schedule for oil and gas leases in U.S. offshore waters. It is a lengthy, multi-year regulatory process with multiple stages for public comment, input and consultation.
With prices continually rising at the gas pump, CEA’s Kevin Doyle looked at some of the causes of higher energy prices and when families may find relief at the pump.
Consumer Energy Alliance officials said more demand post COVID lockdown and supply chain issues create the perfect storm for inflation.
“Energy prices over the last year went up 59% for consumers, families, and businesses,” Consumer Energy Alliance Florida Executive Director Kevin Doyle said.
Read more – CBS 47 Action Jax News
The Michigan Public Service Commission began hearing testimony on January 14 related to a permit request by Enbridge to relocate a section of the Line 5 pipeline beneath the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac.
CEA’s independent report, The Regional Economic and Fiscal Impacts of an Enbridge Line 5 Shutdown, was recently citied examining the substantial economic impact and job losses losing this pipeline would have on Ohio and the Midwest.
A study released by the Consumer Energy Alliance this past summer concluded that total economic losses of closing Line 5 could reach $20.8 billion in lost economic activity in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Read more – The Center Square
With families paying ever increasing amounts of money on their energy bills, CEA Florida’s Kevin Doyle examines solutions state and federal leaders can begin to implement to help decrease the burden on working families.
Here in the United States, we have the ability to produce enough energy to combat high global prices. With the development of new technologies within the last two decades, we have tremendously reduced our dependence on foreign oil. Natural gas provides nearly a fourth of North America’s energy today. And there is an abundance of clean natural gas, enough to meet our needs for the next two or more centuries.
We must implement practical solutions like rebuilding our supply chains; unfreezing access to natural gas resources managed by the federal government; and allowing for the infrastructure necessary to ensure reliable, affordable transmission of energy.
Read more – The News-Press
This week, the Biden Administration announced plans to pump $20 billion into expanding the nation’s transmission network – targeting “shovel ready” projects. To implement this plan, the Department of Energy will partner with utilities, transmission developers and state governments to create routes for new power line projects.
In the same announcement, the Administration also shared that it would hold the U.S. government’s largest ever offshore wind auction next month in waters off the coast of New York and New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Democrats’ Build Back Better bill is on hold again, as negotiations between the White House and Senator Joe Manchin have fizzled out. The $1.7 trillion climate and social spending bill has been a top priority for the President, but until he can negotiate a compromise for Manchin’s support in the Senate, it likely will not be put up for a vote.
Check out more of this week’s most interesting stories in energy below!
Engineers from MIT and Kyushu University in Japan have demonstrated for the first time that light can be used to significantly improve the performance of fuel cells, lithium batteries and other devices that are based on the movement of charged atoms, or ions. Phys.org reports that the work could have many applications, such as helping to boost the performance of thin lithium battery electrolytes by increasing charging rates.
Knowing how to heat a greenhouse is crucial if you live somewhere with cooler temperatures or want to try your hand at growing more exotic plants that require plenty of warmth. If you are looking for new greenhouse ideas to help keep your plants cozy throughout the winter months, Gardening Etc has created a guide of the most common ways to heat a greenhouse with everything from plug-in-and-go approaches to DIY methods.
SOURCE Hydropanel is operating in 50 countries around the world and is said to be able to provide clean, sustainable drinking water from sunlight and air. Forbes reports that Arizona State University, where the technology was first developed, powered up a water farm in September that can produce 400,000 gallons of drinking water a year (or about 1.5 million liters).
There is a new type of “water” cremation and is supposedly more environmentally friendly because instead of using energy for the fire, it uses water in a metal vessel. Fox 10 Phoenix reports that the process has been credited with being more eco-friendly too, creating 35% of the same greenhouse gasses as a typical cremation and using 90% less power.
An old Kentucky coal mine will soon be turned into a pumped hydro “water battery” in an ambitious renewable clean energy scheme. In Habitat reports how the developer will transform the strip mine into the storage project and use wind and solar to operate the pumps.
