Category Archives: people

FERC Commissioner John Norris Addresses the Natural Gas Roundtable

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Hannah Bozian | Comments Off

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On June 22, 2011, the monthly meeting of the Natural Gas Roundtable convened with keynote speaker, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner John Norris.

Norris voiced his confidence that natural gas will play a large role in the future of America’s energy needs, but also spoke of the difficulties in getting investments for energy infrastructure that are needed for the natural gas industry to grow.

Norris noted that because natural gas is America’s energy future, in terms of infrastructure, “it is important we get it right.”

“Investing in this type of infrastructure is beneficial for the economy,” said Norris, “because a large investment will help America transition its energy usage while creating jobs. We need to replace much of this infrastructure anyway, because at this point, it qualifies for AARP benefits.”

In his speech, Norris remarked that America’s energy issue is “the biggest big-picture challenge we face as a country right now.”

There’s no doubt that natural gas is imperative to help reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and satisfy other clean energy goals.

“No matter where I look in the energy debate,” Norris said, “it seems like it all comes back around to natural gas.”

We couldn’t agree more.

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A Talk with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Bruce Kauffmann | Comments Off

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The cover story for the June issue of American Gas magazine, titled “Safe & Sound,” is actually an interview with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, among whose many responsibilities is partnering with the natural gas industry to ensure that our natural gas pipeline delivery system, which is the safest energy delivery system in America, becomes even safer.

As far back as February of this year Secretary LaHood had visited AGA’s headquarter in order to talk with our board of directors about how, together, we can improve pipeline safety. As he said to our board, a first step is to improve communication among all of the pipeline safety stakeholders, which is why in April he hosted the first-ever Pipeline Safety Forum, whose goal was to determine the best methods to “rehabilitate, repair and, where necessary, replace critical pipeline infrastructure”—all to ensure the safe and reliable delivery of natural gas to the 175 million Americans who depend on it every day.

As Secretary LaHood notes in our interview with him, the Pipeline Safety Forum was an excellent first step, but only a first step in enhancing pipeline safety, while also making sure that all stakeholders, including natural gas customers, are aware of the individual actions they can take to improve the safety of the pipeline system. To give just one example, the number-one cause of pipeline incidents is damage done to pipelines by outside excavators, including folks digging or planting in their own back yards, who are unaware that underground pipe lies beneath them. A simple call to the “Call Before You Dig” safety hotline—just dial 811 anywhere in the country—and you will be alerted to the location of underground pipe and/or wire in your digging area.

As the interview makes clear, Secretary LaHood is a firm believer in interaction, communication and collaboration. “I know that each time we bring people together we learn more,” he says.

By reading this interview, you too can learn more about Secretary LaHood’s views on pipeline safety and how the U.S. Department of Transportation, the natural gas industry and our many other involved stakeholders, both nationally and in each of our 50 states, can more effectively work together to improve it.

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Operations conference photos

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Dan Gibson | Comments Off

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The Ops conference, or officially the Operations Conference & Biennial Exhibition, is always one of our best events and this year was no exception. Learning, networking, industry technology, recognition…it’s all there.

Juanita Spence from our operations team is working on a blog post for later next week with more about what happened at the event. Some of you might remember Juanita from her updates on twitter during the conference. In the meantime, we’ve had so many requests for photos I wanted to get a quick post up letting you know where you could find them.

I always ask people to take pictures when they go places I don’t get to go and I think you guys will be interested in the photos. The OPS team came through with flying colors. Debbie smiled when she handed me the jump drive and said, “we’ve got a few pictures we’d like to post.”

A few?

Try 200.

I pulled out some of my favorites below to give you a taste. Be sure to leave a comment if you were at the conference and had a good time. We enjoy reading those. You can view the entire collection on Flickr (we’re working on adding them to our Facebook page, too). We also broke them out into sets so it would be easier for you to find specific things.

Have fun, we sure did!

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Getting ready for the 2011 AGA Operations Conference

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Dan Gibson | Comments Off

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If you’re gearing up for the 2011 AGA operations conference, or as it’s officially called the Operations Conference & Biennial Exhibition, I’ve got some last-minute notes to help you make the most of your conference experience. We’re actually doing a series of these during the week to highlight what’s going on at the event so be sure to check back.

First, as a good part of my world functions around the web, I wanted to let you know that we started a twitter hashtag for the event. It’s #agaops. So, if you’re commenting on the conference use #agaops with your tweet and anyone searching #agaops on twitter will see the message. Juanita Spence, part of our operations team, has already started tweeting about the event and even posted a few pictures.

You can also use the hashtag if you’re looking for help with something. We’ll be monitoring #agaops and will try to point you in right direction when we see your question. Twitter is great to use if you need help at the actual event. I’ve used twitter at events before to find people at the event when I didn’t have their contact information readily available or was in a place too loud to talk. People are already starting to use it, including a few of our exhibitors. Maybe there are a few giveaways in our future .

Second, be sure to visit the event landing page on aga.org to get copies of conference materials. They’ll be around the registration and exhibition areas to be sure, but in a pinch, here’s a link to download what you need to find your way around.

You’ll find everything from the conference-at-a-glance to the final program, and even a listing of the exhibitors and fun things to do in the area. I went ahead and grabbed the conference-at-a-glance for tonight and tomorrow for you. Click the image below to get the full pdf.

Finally, and most important, be sure to take advantage of being at the event. While we’ve all learned to get amazing things done by collaborating in our digital worlds, there is no substitute for actually being to look someone in the eye, smile and say “hello.” These are the type of networking events that help build lifelong relationships. So, when you’re at the Grand Opening Reception this evening, take a little time to make a new acquaintance.

Leave us a comment below or jump over to twitter and let us know what you think. Be sure to use the #agaops hashtag so we can find you. Here’s a link if you want to learn more about hashtags and how to use them.