Consumers in the U.S. are heading towards a fascinating era in energy innovation.

Some predict that by 2030, a tenth of vehicles worldwide will be self-driving. While the range of their capabilities will vary, the result is exactly what you might be thinking – more driverless cars.

And certainly, one way to make our driverless roads safer would be to take other cars or trucks that haul people or goods, and move them off our already crowded roadways and put them into the air- via air taxis. And while flying drones could be delivering packages to your doorstep, a future Uber trip might take you up, up and away (literally).

But it’s not just transportation that’s paving the way to the future.

3D printers could make us nearly anything we want – even a delicious steak dinner – and do it just about anywhere we want. These printers can create incredibly critical, high-demand items, too. Doctors in Iowa have begun printing body parts, both limbs, and organs like a heart, to meet their growing surgical needs. As America’s population ages, this type of technology would be an absolute game-changer for the U.S., remote areas, and even third-world countries that lack adequate transportation, infrastructure, and medical resources.

While these exciting future possibilities could be limitless, they all require one key ingredient: power. And not just power – reliable power.

Without reliable and affordable energy, driverless vehicles; drone deliveries of goods, people, and food; fast and efficient transportation and life-saving capabilities simply vanish.

In February 2020, Statista, an online statistic portal powerhouse, set out to learn which devices matter the most to consumers. Topping the list both in the U.S. and abroad, were smart and mobile phones. Those findings seem consistent with Forrester Research who found 73 percent of respondents indicated their mobile phone is the electronic device they use the most.

That may not be too surprising, but couple that with a growing, lesser-known fact: multigenerational households are now on the rise once again. According to a survey conducted by John Burns Real Estate Consulting, as many as 41 percent of Americans buying a home today are considering accommodating an elderly parent or an adult child.

Behind mobile phones, Statista found home computers and laptops were the second most important device, especially in the U.S., and that statistic trends closely with the rise of people working from home remotely. According to Gallup, 43 percent of Americans work from home occasionally and there’s evidence that even more would if they could. A survey of 2,000 working professionals and 1,000 hiring managers by LinkedIn found that 82 percent of workers want to work from home at least one day per week, and 57 percent want to work from home at least three days per week.

That means competition for the power plug may be on the rise. Not only might you have to rank which devices to power first, but you may also have to determine whose power use is the most important.

And that’s why a balanced energy portfolio makes sense, not banning a critical power and energy source like natural gas. In a series of reports, the evidence is becoming clearer that natural gas is emerging as a key cost saver for families. Consumer Energy Alliance found that low-priced natural gas has saved North Carolinians almost $12 billion, Pennsylvania more than $30 billion, and Ohio nearly $40 billion – to name just a few. The natural gas energy savings phenomenon is happening across the country and it’s benefiting dozens of states.

One of the ways we threaten reliability is by imposing draconian measures on our communities that while well-intentioned, actually create an adverse effect on the businesses and families within our communities – and future innovation.  One trendy effort underway worth warning every energy consumer about are some local governments that are proposing bans on natural gas for new homes and businesses as a means to combat climate change. They’ve also suggested banning gas-powered leaf blowers and lawnmowers.

Sounds harmless, right? So what if everything going forward must be powered (or charged) by electricity? Especially if it’s in the name of a cleaner environment?

While likely well-intentioned, “A lot of times when people are managing the real basics, the idea of upgrading is seen as beyond the current needs,” said Diana Hernandez, a professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University who authored a paper in 2012 on how to develop energy efficiency programs for low-income people.

There are also several more key factors to consider.

One of the challenges with 100 percent electrification is that our power grid was never designed to be dominated by only one fuel source. And that’s because a diversified, all-of-the-above energy plan is most reliable, allowing the option to switch fuels as needed, or as prices change.

Natural gas is great for heating things up, like your home and appliances like stoves, ovens, and hot water heaters. Natural gas also helps provide power when solar and wind power aren’t generating energy. Even as we account for the new development of solar and wind, which are taking off in rural areas of our country, they still only contribute about 18 percent of our energy sources, with .oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear energy accounting for the rest of our power make up.

Because our current infrastructure isn’t ready to handle a single source power load without the proper money and time to build out and upgrade the existing grid, such a fast change would not come without disruptions like black and brownouts, or other inconveniences. This is something consumers need to consider as they vote for policymakers who are pushing aggressive energy bills through their state legislatures.

Though this has led some states, like New Mexico, to start investing in grid modernization, others don’t have the funding or have instituted onerous policies that didn’t take the grid into consideration. Forgetting to account for each piece of the supply chain is like playing chicken at the expense of our communities.

So what if you were told tomorrow that you had to pick which appliances or devices to power as energy reliability failed?

More power from more sources creates reliability. Let’s keep it that way by pushing forward with efforts that support balanced energy solutions and allow for the responsible development of all resources and the affordable energy they provide. Supporting an all-of-the-above approach and blending of multiple fuel sources is the answer to helping us through this exciting and ever-changing era.

It is an exciting time for consumers right now. For those old enough to remember just think how different your life is today compared to 10 or 15 years ago.

Now, thanks to new technologies and companies like Apple, we have miniature wireless phones (and Siri) in our pockets or on our wrists; thanks to Amazon, we yell questions and place shopping orders with Alexa who’s sitting on our countertops; and thanks to Google, we can program our home thermostat to adjust automatically whether we’re not home.

Computer scientists like Graham Kendall from the University of Nottingham have noted, “the iPhone in your pocket has over 100,000 times the processing power of the computer that landed a man on the Moon 50 years ago.” If you’ve ever watched the futuristic sitcom-cartoon, The Jetsons, you’ll realize a lot of those far-fetched fantasies are now a reality. But speaking of cartoons, or comics in this case, we would be wise to head the wording of Spider-Man amidst all this excitement, recognizing that “with great power comes great responsibility.”

While it may feel like our energy and technology possibilities are endless, we must recognize and adhere to our limits.

For instance, what could happen if a typical family of four is home, cooking dinner, running multiple devices on Wi-Fi, watching their smart TVs, charging their electric vehicle in the garage, and running their home heater (or air conditioner) to stay comfortable?  Would they blow a fuse or circuit breaker?

Probably not.

But multiply that scenario across a neighborhood built just outside an urban center in suburbia, where homes are much more concentrated than they used to be, along with the limits of wind and solar power – which perform best during sunny, windy days. Could the power-loaded neighborhood force a blackout?

Perhaps not. But multiply that power use across a heavily populated county or state and the answer may change.

Anticipating these kinds of limits, states with aggressive renewable energy policies, like California, have relied on rolling blackouts in an effort to manage load and to mitigate seasonal threats like wildfire.

These policies have forced some utilities to implement a tiered price system during peak energy consumption hours in an effort to effectively manage load and decrease blackouts.

Seeing this shift, one businessman in San Diego took matters into his own hands by building his own home battery storage unity system. The concept is simple: the batteries store energy from a homeowners’ existing solar panels and automatically powers the home during blackouts, or during peak energy consumption hours.

But the price tag for his system is $14,000 which could take up to five years to pay for itself. Other companies like Tesla have proposed similar battery walls, which could climb to $25,000 or higher. Sure, in time prices could come down – but when?

On the other side of the country in New Bedford, CT, a fire station faced with a similar decision – power down or pay up – took a drastically different approach. There, the Chief says he was forced to not reduce power use, but instead retire one of the station’s fire trucks. New Bedford Fire Chief Paul Coderre, Jr. recently issued a statement announcing that beginning in March 2020, the New Bedford Fire Department “will end so-called fire company ‘rolling blackouts,’ the practice of taking one of the City’s ten fire companies out of service on a rotating daily basis.” The ending of the controversial blackouts comes after two elderly city residents died in two separate fire incidents in October and December of 2019.

The unfortunate reality in these scenarios is that the energy consumer ends up paying. Either slowly over time with more expensive utility bills, or upfront with an expensive battery system, or in terms of reduced emergency services.

Thankfully, there is a better way.

Reports are starting to come to light that America’s new position as the number one oil and gas producer in the world is producing more benefits than just energy security by producing what we need here at home. In the past, our nation was forced to rely on less-than-friendly nations to provide us with the energy we so desperately rely on.

Over a ten-year period, families in New York – a state known for its expensive reputation – saved close to $15.7 billion, and commercial and industrial users saved nearly $15.2 billion. The analysis, titled “The Big Apple Isn’t the Only Big Thing in New York, the Energy Savings are Too” details how residents are saving through cheaper utility bills thanks to domestically produced natural gas. Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel and thanks to America’s energy revolution it’s abundant, accessible, and affordable.

But in reality, there really is no such thing as a typical consumer of energy or family. We all peak at different times, so it makes sense to lead with the source that can meet our power needs at the price our families can best afford. Thankfully natural gas is there to help us power through anything life throws at us, now and into the future.

As the 2020 presidential election starts to heat up across battleground states, America’s presidential hopefuls will continue to fiercely compete to capture voters’ opinions and support.

When public opinion polls are constantly being released in presidential election years, it’s important to remember that polling isn’t just used to determine whom voters will cast their ballot for, they’re also used to gauge (or rank) the importance of issues and priorities among voters. From highway transportation and education to national security and immigration reform, each voter prioritizes issues differently and candidates aim to hit what is collectively top of mind.

The first known example of a local opinion poll, sometimes referred to as a straw poll, was conducted by a newspaper in Pennsylvania in 1824, which showed Andrew Jackson leading John Quincy Adams by 335 votes to 169 for the year’s presidential race. In 1916, The Literary Digest embarked on a national survey – partly as a circulation-raising exercise – by mailing out millions of postcards and simply counting the returns. They correctly predicted the victories of the next four U.S. presidents. Later, in 1935, George Gallup would launch the Gallup organization to provide data analytics through polling worldwide – now known as the Gallup poll.

Fast forward to today in a recent poll conducted by Harvard University, which said that nearly 80 percent of Americans pointed to reducing health care and prescription drug costs as their top priorities, regardless of party affiliation.

You don’t have to be a political science professor to know that Democrats and Republicans rarely agree on policy agendas, let alone one issue where 80 percent are in agreement. Even though climate change ranked eleventh in Harvard’s poll, it doesn’t mean the topic will be moved to the backburner – in fact, far from it. Proposals such as the Green New Deal, bans on hydraulic fracturing (a vital technique needed to economically produce America’s oil and gas supplies), and 100 percent renewable energy mandates continue to make headlines, and waves through federal and state legislatures.

While these headlines and proposals may be attention-grabbing, political soundbites should not be confused with solutions.

Regardless of what you believe in, it doesn’t mean our nation shouldn’t strive for smart energy solutions and sound environmental policies. Too often, consumers are presented with false a choice: either affordable energy or a clean environment.

Thankfully, we can have both.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, since 1970, our economy has steadily grown, and while we’ve traveled, produced, and consumed more energy and added more people – pollutants in our air have dropped by 74 percent. Why? The primary reason is the increased use of clean-burning natural gas.

More than ever, America’s environmental and economic success are aligning.

Still, public opinion polling does influence the actions of both public officials, candidates, and the public. News that cities were considering banning the use of natural gas in new homes, buildings, and businesses has set off a fury of questions and concerns from consumers since the reasons behind the ban seem less relevant than the effects they will have on our bank accounts.

Cities in California, New Jersey, and New York that are looking to ban new natural gas hook-ups are starting to see the price tag. The National Homebuilder’s Association has also said that to remove burner tips from homes, the point where natural gas flows into our homes, could be upwards of $20,000. And, an independent study, released by the California Building Industry Association (CBIA), has indicated that:

• Switching to all-electric appliances would cost consumers more than $7,200 and increase energy costs by up to $388 per year.
• Homeowners would need to pay roughly $2,600 for the purchase and installation of new electric appliances.
• This would result in an annual cost increase of $4.3 to $6.1 billion across California’s 7 million single-family homes.

There is tremendous merit behind using more wind and solar power to meet our home and commercial business needs, but they alone will not be able to meet all of our needs – nor should they.  Rather, an all-of-the-above approach, blending multiple fuel sources, and utilizing their best attributes is the answer. The critical partnership between these resources is very important, as natural gas helps to empower renewable growth and helps to meet consumer demand during low times of wind and solar production.

Just like our nation, when it comes to energy, diversity is key. Let’s keep it that way by pushing forward with efforts that support balanced energy solutions that allow for the responsible development of all our resources and the affordable energy they provide. Voters and consumers deserve solutions, not political soundbites, especially when it comes to the long term sustainability of our energy future and a cleaner environment.