In October 2011, AGA unveiled its “Commitment to Enhancing Safety,” which outlined the industry’s continued commitment to improving pipeline safety.  We have released an update to that commitment detailing actions that are being addressed by AGA or individual operators that go above and beyond current regulation to help ensure the safe and reliable operation of the nation’s 2.4 million miles of pipeline.

“This document and the actions it lays out are another step in our ongoing mission to operate one of the safest energy delivery systems in the world,” said AGA President and CEO Dave McCurdy.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has emphasized the need to continually focus on safety, and we agree. This is a paramount priority. Natural gas utilities are founded on principles of community stewardship and consistently work to advance the safety of our industry. AGA holds widely attended safety summits throughout the nation and supported the “Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act” which became law at the beginning of this year.

You can view the updated “Commitment to Enhancing Safety” here, and you can learn more about AGA’s other safety initiatives here.

At the AGA Customer Service Conference in Fort Worth, TX, there was great interest surrounding the topics of customer engagement and customer experience. The general session included a thought-provoking presentation from Chuck Underwood on how to engage with customers from different generations. Breakout sessions covered areas such as call centers, credit and collection, billing and payment, low income and energy assistance, meter reading, field service, revenue protection, commercial and industrial account management, and energy efficiency.

AGA held its annual Legislative Forum in Miami, FL. Participating AGA member company representatives heard from a diverse group of panelists who discussed topics ranging from the near and long term natural gas supply pictures to AGA’s advocacy priorities and how they will fit within the context of a variety of election outcomes.

The AGA Operations Conference was held this year in San Francisco, CA and was the best attended Operations Conference (in a non-exhibit year) for more than two decades. AGA tweeted live from the event. Nick Stavropoulos from Pacific Gas and Electric Company welcomed everyone to San Francisco and kicked the conference off with a heartfelt speech about his commitment to the future of PG&E and the safety of its customers and community.  AGA members showcased the work the work they are doing to keep the natural gas industry growing and moving forward. The list of conference topics was both wide and varied and demonstrated the broad interests and needs of America’s natural gas utilities. The conference covered pipeline safety, gas quality assessments, measurement advances, environmental management, supply operations and more.

Standing room only the General Session of the AGA Operations Conference

The AGA Financial Forum in Scottsdale, AZ featured technical workshops, one-on-one company meetings, organized company dinners, breakfast visitation tables, formal company presentations, and general session industry presentations.  Executives from 39 AGA publicly traded member companies participated along with over 220 members from the financial community.

In June, AGA members and staff will travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to attend the World Gas Conference. The theme of the conference will be “Gas: Sustaining Future Global Growth” and cover topics such as sustainability, efficiencies in natural gas, the impact of geopolitics on natural gas market, development and unconventional gas.

Preparations have begun for next year’s events including the 17^th International Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG 17).  AGA will bring strategic and commercial leaders and technical experts together in Houston, TX for four days of sessions, workshops and tours of world-leading liquefied natural gas facilities.

America’s natural gas utilities are leading a global conversation about natural gas as the foundation fuel for generations to come.

On April 24, 2012, representatives from the United States Congress, U.S. Department of Transportation , Arkansas Public Service Commission and the City of Blytheville, AR came together to praise SourceGas for their program replacing cast iron main with polyethylene plastic main in Arkansas. SourceGas is a natural gas local distribution utility headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado. SourceGas and its affiliates serve nearly 410,000 customers and operate 17,940 miles of distribution, gathering and transmission pipeline, as well as storage facilities, in Arkansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming.

Rep. Rick Crawford

U.S. Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-1) commended SourceGas for its pro-active approach and commitment to providing safe utility service to the citizens of Arkansas.

Arkansas Public Service Commission Chairman Colette Honorable

Timothy Butters, Deputy Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration

Arkansas Public Service Commission Chairman Colette Honorable said, “Today we applaud the fine work of those on the front lines at SourceGas on this momentous occasion. We salute your commitment to safety to the people we serve.”

US Department of Transportation Deputy Administrator Timothy Butters reminded those in attendance that United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood issued a national pipeline safety ‘Call to Action’ and stated that, “The action by SourceGas to retire all cast iron pipe is a testament to its commitment to safety and is a major step towards addressing one of the most important elements of the Secretary’s Action plan – making sure the pipelines are fit for service.”

SourceGas President and CEO, Bill Cantrell thanked the elected officials and regulators for taking time out of their busy schedule to attend this event. He also thanked the men and women of SourceGas that strive every day to deliver the Company’s vision, “To be the premiere energy provider in the communities we serve.”

America’s natural gas delivery system is the safest, most reliable energy delivery system in the nation and every day local natural gas utilities like SourceGas are working to advance safety through upgrades and improvements to our natural gas infrastructure.

• 22 governors issued National Safe Digging Month Proclamations

• The U.S. Department of Transportation released a new public service announcement

• Common Ground Alliance created a video celebrating the five year anniversary of the Call 811 Before You Dig campaign.

America’s natural gas utilities are working with national state and local governments and leaders in the pipeline and construction industries to promote safe digging year round.

Visit call811.com.  Take the 811 Promise. Call before you dig.

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.

For example, ONEOK Partners announced last week that it will invest more than $140 million to construct a 270-mile natural gas gathering system going into the Bakken shale.  The system will create new opportunities for Bakken and Three Forks producers to process and deliver natural gas to the marketplace.  ONEOK will also spend more than $1.5 billion between 2011 and 2014 to support its natural gas and natural gas liquids businesses, including an additional 500-mile natural gas liquids pipeline.   Last month, NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage announced similar plans for bringing gas to market from the Marcellus and Utica shales, two areas where shale deposits have created potentially vast new gas supplies for the northeastern United States.  The company’s Pennsylvania Marcellus Pipeline project will invest about $145 million to bring 300,000 dekatherms per day of new capacity onto its system and connect to multiple interstate pipelines.

A number of companies have sought authorizations from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand storage, processing, transportation, and trading hub facilities to interconnect with major interstate pipelines.  Recently, FERC authorized Hope Gas Inc., a local gas distribution company, and Hinshaw to build new facilities to take gas from several producers in the Marcellus region for delivery to three major interstate systems.  FERC’s approval anticipates that E&P activity in the West Virginia Marcellus will create enough supply in the next few years to outstrip demand on Hope’s LDC system and in West Virginia as a whole!  We can expect FERC to remain active in reviewing such projects in 2012 and 2013.

To learn more about our country’s abundant natural gas resources, check out  AGA’s most recent Energy Analysis report discussing findings on U.S. 2011 Natural Gas Reserves and a recent snapshot of natural gas trends going into 2012.

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.

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.

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.

This ‘on-the-shelf’ inventory is the foundation along with growing national resource estimates that may point to as much as a 100 year natural gas supply in America.  This abundance is helping to reduce prices and increase stability for our customers and also ensuring that that natural gas is America’s domestic, clean foundation fuel for now and into the future.

Natural gas reserves, as measured in the AGA report, are those quantities of natural gas estimated to exist as the result of drilling and completion of existing wells.  Natural gas resources, assessed by groups such as the Potential Gas Committee, represent a broader definition of all natural gas in-place that may be considered as future supply, including gas yet to be discovered. When periodic assessments of undiscovered resources are combined with proved reserves a vision of future supply of natural gas emerges. Today, the combination of reserves information and resource assessments places that future supply at 2,100 Tcf or greater.  That represents about 100 years of supply at current gas production rates, which are 22-23 Tcf per year.

The previous domestic reserves record of 293 Tcf was recorded in1967.  During 2010 and now again for 2011, the American Gas Association estimates that more than 100 percent of total domestic annual production was replaced with new natural gas reserve additions and revisions of previous estimates. AGA estimates that proved U.S. reserves may be as high as 300 Tcf, today, a new reserves record.

AGA and its members believe that our domestic natural gas resource base must be developed responsibly. We are committed to the continued safe and reliable extraction, transport and delivery of natural gas to consumers.