Chris Hogan joins the AGA communications team

August 25, 2009 by Dan Gibson · Comments Off
Filed under: people 

I’ve got some good news today if you haven’t already heard. Chris Hogan has joined the AGA communications team as communications director.  Chris is a great guy and I’m excited because his new role will give him a more active role in the AGA blog. This is a good thing because Chris is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the award winning menswear blog Off the Cuff.  So, if you want to update your look or just see who makes the best khakis, he’s your guy.

Chris is an AGA veteran. For the past six years, he served as AGA’s director of corporate affairs and investor relations. During his time in that role Chris was the lead on quite a few successful programs for AGA including the financial forum and defend my dividend. He’s going to be a great addition to the communications team and we’re all excited to have him on board.

For those of you that have worked with Chris in those areas, no need to worry because Liliana Fonnoll, who has worked closely with Chris for the past six years, has been promoted. Liliana will take on many of Chris’ previous responsibilities in outreach with the financial community including responsibility for future Finance Committee meetings, regional financial community presentations, NARUC financial meetings, the Financial Forum, and the Investor Relations Subcommittee.  Liliana will continue to manage the financial community database and coordinate international activities related to IGU, the World Gas Conference, and LNG 17.

You can leave Chris a welcome message or a congratulations for Liliana in the comments below.

Tags:

National Fuel Funds Network’s LIHEAP Action Day

August 20, 2009 by Dan Gibson · Comments Off
Filed under: energy, people 

Last February we had a great time hosting the kickoff of LIHEAP Action Day. Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides critical dollars to low-income Americans struggling to heat and cool their homes, a particularly daunting task in the face of an economic downturn.

That event was a great success and the National Fuel Funds Network is already gearing up for the next one. Vivian sent me this the other day.

Registration is now open for the National Fuel Funds Network’s LIHEAP Action Day, February 10, 2010 in Washington, DC. Please hold the date on your calendar and plan to join delegates from across the country in the Nation’s Capitol to kick-off advocacy for $5.1 billion for LIHEAP in Fiscal Year 2011.

For the past seven years, NFFN’s LIHEAP Action Day has proven to be a very effective event to convince Congress to increase the LIHEAP funding.  In order to continue this success, we need your participation.

NFFN’s LIHEAP Action Day will begin with a breakfast briefing at 8:15 am and end with a reception 4:30 on Wednesday, February 10, 2010.  The NFFN will also provide a central gathering place on Capitol Hill, talking points and background information, expert advice and training in lobbying for LIHEAP and a diverse group of participants.

We expect representatives from fuel funds and other nonprofit organizations, consumer advocacy programs, utility and fuel oil companies and associations, and local, state and Tribal governments. Action Day advocates will fan out over Capitol Hill with a uniform message for legislators – provide needed LIHEAP funding.

There is no charge for registration. We will update registrants on the legislative situation and other developments between now and LIHEAP Action Day.

NFFN is currently finalizing arrangements for discounted hotel rates and will notify all Action Day registrants as soon as arrangements are final.

For more details, please contact NFFN Executive Director George Coling, 202-824-0660, coling@nationalfuelfunds.org.

Tags: liheap

Natural Gas – the insurance fuel

August 19, 2009 by Mike Pomorski · 3 Comments
Filed under: Natural Gas 

You have probably heard natural gas referred to as a “bridge fuel,” with the idea being that we can use gas as a bridge between a fossil-fueled economy to one based on renewable energy.  Fair enough.  But natural gas, and particularly access to gas supply, is also a lot like an insurance policy.  Natural gas is an insurance fuel because it is abundant, inexpensive, low-carbon and able to step into virtually all energy related applications in the potential scenario where other technologies are not ready.   Natural gas is also an insurance fuel in the sense that if we limit access to gas supply (through geographic restrictions, limitations on hydraulic fracture, failure to site LNG import facilities, restrictions on pipelines, etc.) we are essentially gambling that we will have sufficient non-natural gas resources to drive the economy over the next several decades.

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, a.k.a. H.R. 2454 a.k.a. Waxman-Markey demonstrates what I mean.   EIA’s analysis has gotten quite a bit of press, and for good reason.  People that think about what climate regulation will mean for energy markets and the larger economy in the United States should read the full report, or at least peruse the Executive Summary.

So what does EIA project will happen to gas consumption under Waxman-Markey?  Well, it depends on which case of assumptions you use (EIA reports on 11). In one case, EIA forecasts that natural gas consumption in 2030 will be 25.7 Tcf.  In another, consumption will be 19.8 Tcf.  For some context, annual consumption in 2008 was 23.2 Tcf, so according to EIA’s analysis, under Waxman-Markey, consumption of natural gas will either increase or decrease.  This is perhaps not an Earth-shattering revelation.

Now, this in no way decreases the quality and importance of EIA’s modeling.  In fact, it points to good modeling practices.  No one can predict the future.  The best we can do is evaluate what might happen given a different set of assumptions.  Early in the report, EIA writes that “EIA cannot attach probabilities to … individual policy cases” (p. ix).   That is, the fact that there is a “Basic Case” among the model runs does not mean that EIA thinks that it is the most likely to occur.  It is hard to overstate the importance of that statement.  Future changes in the energy landscape (deployment of renewables, new nuclear capacity, availability of offsets for carbon abatement, etc.) are uncertain.

There are a few ways to deal with uncertainty.  One is to roll the dice, or to insist that your crystal ball is better than the next guy’s and act accordingly.  Another is to hedge your bets and buy insurance.

EIA’s modeling shows that there is the potential for Waxman-Markey to significantly increase the demand for natural gas, but that this increase is uncertain.  How can we deal with this uncertainty?  We can gamble (a bold move considering what is at stake) or we can get insurance.  Perhaps renewable energy and energy efficiency will be able to significantly reduce our natural gas consumption. Then again, perhaps not.   A policy of robust access to natural gas supplies provides the type of insurance we need in the event that alternatives do not pan out.

One more thing. You can support access to natural gas supplies even if you hope it that the supply is never extracted.  You are probably pretty confident in your driving, and you probably hope that you never have to report a claim.  But that does not mean you are going to forego car insurance.  Why should energy markets be any different?

Tags:

—