Author Archives: Jake Rubin

The U.S. Department of Transportation will lead an effort to help expedite federal permitting for a 1,000 mile pipeline modernization project by NiSource, Inc. that will produce thousands of jobs, enhance safety and increase energy capacity.

Secretary Ray LaHood and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administrator Cynthia Quarterman recently met with Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and representatives from NiSource in Pittsburgh to pledge their support in expediting the construction.

Secretary LaHood said, “A year ago, I asked pipeline operators to take a hard look at their infrastructure and identify those sections of pipeline that need to be repaired, rehabilitated or replaced to ensure safer and more reliable delivery of energy resources. And we are happy to help NiSource speed up construction and replace some of the oldest pipelines in the nation, ensuring good jobs and increased safety for people in Pittsburgh, as well as throughout Pennsylvania and the other states that will benefit from this project.”

NiSource, Inc. has announced it will modernize its Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC gas transmission and storage system that serves communities in six states, including the Marcellus shale gas production region.

“At NiSource, we are pleased to play our part in this long-term, nation-wide commitment to enhancing America’s core energy infrastructure,” said Jimmy Staton, executive vice president and group CEO of NiSource’s gas transmission and storage business. “We welcome the Department of Transportation’s support in facilitating our investments through an efficient permitting and regulatory review process. We commend Secretary LaHood, Mayor Ravenstahl, President Obama and our many other federal, state and local stakeholders who play a role in helping modernize our nation’s energy infrastructure.  We look forward to working together to get the job done.”

This modernization project will take place in Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, and it will promote the safe and reliable delivery of energy resources across the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. NiSource projects that the modernization project will:

• Invest $4 billion over 10 to 15 years, beginning in 2012;
• Produce an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 direct jobs; and
• Replace approximately 1,000 miles of large diameter pipeline using domestic-made steel.

A year ago, Secretary LaHood issued a Call to Action to the nation’s pipeline operators, asking them to take a hard look at their infrastructure and identify pipelines that need to be repaired, rehabilitated or replaced to ensure safer and more reliable delivery of energy resources. This project is also in accordance with the President’s Executive Order to Improve Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infrastructure Projects.

This $4 billion commitment highlighted on Friday is in addition to the more than $4 billion NiSource started investing to modernize its local Columbia Gas utilities over the next two decades. Started about three years ago, the program has already replaced more than 1,000 miles of bare steel and cast iron lines with more modern, corrosion-resistant materials.

AGA members deliver clean natural gas to more than 177 million Americans every day through 2.4 million miles of pipeline infrastructure.

Whether you are planning to do it yourself or hire a professional, smart digging means calling 811 before each job.  Call811.com has information and recommendations for planting trees and hedges, installing a pond, fence, mailbox, deck or pouring concrete.

A utility line is damaged by digging once every three minutes nationwide.  One-third of these incidents are caused by failure to call 811 before beginning a digging project. Striking a single line can cause injury, repair costs, fines and outages. Every digging project – even small projects like installing a mailbox, building a deck or planting a tree or garden – warrants a call to 811.

America’s natural gas utilities urge you to call 811 before you dig.

When calling 811, the individual is automatically connected to the local one-call center which collects information about the digging project. The one-call center then transmits this information to the appropriate utility companies who will send representatives to mark the locations of underground lines in the immediate vicinity of the planned work location.

On Wednesday, April 11, AGA President and CEO Dave McCurdy and I traveled to New York to participate in the New York Times Energy for Tomorrow Conference . The day began with a stop at NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza for an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Because the anchors, Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin, were covering breaking news of an earthquake that struck near Indonesia, McCurdy’s interview was cut short, but he did get a chance to talk briefly about how customers are benefitting from low and stable gas prices. Watch it here:

Later in the day, McCurdy participated in the New York Times Energy for Tomorrow Conference, where everyone was talking about natural gas—from the responsible development of this abundant domestic resource to the role it should play in our nation’s energy portfolio.

The conference included a discussion of the presidential campaign with The New York Times’ political correspondents, a speech by Daniel Yergin, appearances by Carol Browner and T. Boone Pickens and a conversation between United States Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.

The conference was a gathering of global leaders in energy and economics discussing the critical question of how to meet the world’s staggering energy needs, and in the afternoon, McCurdy joined a panel entitled “What do we do with natural gas?” moderated by New York Times Op-Ed columnist Joe Nocera. The lively discussion included Mark Brownstein, chief counsel of the Energy Program, Environmental Defense Fund, Michael Levi, senior fellow for energy and the environment, Council on Foreign Relations and Steve Mueller, president and CEO, Southwestern Energy Company. The conversation covered the gamut of issues about the safe and reliable delivery of clean natural gas and how it can help reach our national goals of improving our environment and increasing our energy security.

Watch the entire discussion here.

This was the warmest March in the United States going back to 1895, when National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began collecting this data.  But for the winter heating season (November – March) the data is even more informative. Not only was it the warmest for this period in the United States since 1895, this result was not driven by one or two areas that were exceedingly warm –  it was a widespread warmth. Several regions (Northeast, East North Central, Central and Southeast) in the continental United States also had their warmest winter heating season since 1895. And nearly every other region (the West had its 70th warmest year) had a top 10 warmest recorded winter heating season.  It is usually big news if even one region sets a new warmest (or coldest) but to have this many simultaneously set new marks is unprecedented.

States that had their warmest heating degree day season this past winter include: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.  Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia experienced their second warmest heating degree day season.

With a winter where the warmth was so widespread and extreme, it is no wonder that working gas in underground storage volumes are so high – 2,479 Bcf at the end of the winter heating season which was also a new “record”.  Meanwhile, the price of natural gas is the lowest it has been in a decade.

What will happen and what can do we do with all of this cheap gas?

The physical and financial natural gas market will find a balancing point and America’s natural gas utilities are always planning to meet customer needs for the next winter heating season.

There are also tremendous opportunities for consumers and our nation as a whole through increased applications of natural gas.  This includes the residential, commercial and industrial markets; manufacturing and electricity generation and natural gas vehicles.  AGA members are investing in upgrading infrastructure and new technologies that will benefit customers and help reach our national goals of improving our environment and increasing our energy security.