Dan Gibson LIHEAP Action Day kickoff

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Dan Gibson | Comments Off


So, one my favorite events at AGA is the annual LIHEAP Action Day event. LIHEAP stands for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. LIHEAP is a federally funded energy assistance program designed to help low-income households cope with the financial burdens of heating and cooling their homes. Last year’s program helped about 8.9 millions households but there’s great concern that those numbers will fall if any cuts come to the program.

That’s a real possibility this year.

To make sure that policy makers are aware of the importance of LIHEAP, AGA works with the National Fuel Funds Network (NFFN) to put on LIHEAP Action Day. People fly-in from all across the country, taking time out of their busy schedules, to go to the Hill in mass to speak with policy makers about LIHEAP in their areas. Before these people go to the Hill, we have a short program giving them the latest statistics on LIHEAP.

George Coling, the Executive Director of the NFFN, opened the program and handed it off to our new president and CEO Dave McCurdy. Dave gave some great information and background on LIHEAP before turning it over to Nick Stavropoulos of National Grid.

Nick briefly reiterated the statistical side of the importance of LIHEAP. More people needing help. The poverty rate rising from 13 percent to 14 percent in the last year. That although LIHEAP helped 8.9 million households, or approximately 23 million people, the money available was only enough to help 1 in 5 eligible Americans.

The thing about LIHEAP though is, while the numbers are important, it’s the people that really matter. The personal stories. Nick shared his.

He spoke about being a little league coach in his youth. What a great experience it was. How much he got out of it and gave to it. He mentioned coaching Rumeal Robinson…I’m actually old enough to remember that Michigan team. He said Matt Damon was a great kid, a good shortstop and his mom was at every game. And then he mentioned James.

James was a kid they coached for a few years and left the team around 12. He was from an unstable, low-income family that was having trouble making ends meet. After he left the team, they would see him around the neighborhood and try to talk to him about the choices he was making to help his family make money to make those ends meet. The story ended sadly, as you might suspect, with James, a young kid of 15, dying in activities he shouldn’t have been involved trying to earn a buck to keep the heat on and food on the table.

Nick said those are the types of stories he thinks about when he goes to people to ask for help with these types of programs and he urged people talking to policy makers to remember their own James as they make the hard ask today to ensure that LIHEAP is fully funded at $5.1 billion.

There’s going to be alot of stuff going on around LIHEAP today. I’ll post a couple pictures from this morning but will do some more later on the media event, etc. For now, take a look at this LIHEAP fact sheet.

Posted in people | Tagged | Comments Off

Chris Hogan Winter Weather Challenges The Southwest

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Chris Hogan | 1 Comment


As some of the worst winter weather of a generation sweeps across the country, energy providers from your local electric company to your local gas company are working hard to keep services up and running. Unfortunately, when Mother Nature deals a hand like the one we are seeing in the Southwest, with frigid temperatures well below the norm, customers can put extra demand on the system.

Power companies are also utilizing more natural gas than normal to meet their electric demands. All of which can lead to the situation we are seeing now. When demand for natural gas exceeds the resources available in the pipe, key factors like pipeline pressure are affected and the results can be customers being shut down.

It’s important to note that this is a rare occurrence as the nation’s pipeline system is one of the most reliable in the world. But safety is the top priority, so customers must be shut down when this does occur – it’s a safety protocol.

Natural gas utilities are doing everything they can to get more natural gas into the lines and ensure that folks have the gas they need to stay safe and warm. Part of this process will require customers who have been shut off to be safely re-lit by their natural gas utility.

To that end, the natural gas utility will need to gain access to affected homes or buildings in order to re-light customers. Customers who are away from their home for an extended period, due to vacation or for other reasons, should contact their utility directly to see what arrangements can be made to restore service.

Safety is always the first priority, and the customers affected should follow the lead of their local natural gas company. In no instance, should anyone seek to re-light any natural gas appliances themselves.

Posted in Natural Gas, safety, winter heating | 1 Comment

Chris Hogan The Truth About Gasland

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Chris Hogan | 1 Comment


There has been a great deal of discussion and debate about natural gas development recently.  In particular, the issue of hydraulic fracturing has sparked debate and been the source of a significant amount of misinformation.

The documentary Gasland, just nominated for an Academy Award, is perhaps one of the most prominent examples of fear outstripping facts.  Hydraulic fracturing, on which the movie focuses, is a time-tested drilling process that has been in use for more than 50 years in hundreds of thousands of wells.  Rather than objectively explore the subject, ‘Gasland’ ignores the reality of this technology and instead creates a distorted story designed to generate fear and distrust.

America’s Natural Gas Alliance, which represents many of the companies involved in domestic natural gas production, underscores just how riddled with inaccuracies Gasland is in this just-released video which sets the record straight.

Per the very definition of the documentary category from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the emphasis of a documentary film must be ‘on fact and not fiction,’ and there is no doubt Gasland has missed the mark.

We hope that after learning the facts you agree.


Posted in energy, Natural Gas | 1 Comment

Lydia Meigs Well, It’s Groundhog Day…Again

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Lydia Meigs | Comments Off


Meteorologist Mike Randall, a skeptic of groundhogs, has a theory.  Since there are always six more weeks of winter after Groundhog Day, and the concept of early spring in the astronomical sense simply does not exist, then whenever the groundhog sees its shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter, the groundhog is always right, but whenever it predicts an early spring, it is always wrong. Therefore, our beloved North American tradition gives us an approximate 80 percent rate of accuracy, the average percentage of times a groundhog sees its shadow.

Lord of the Shadow Watchers, Czar of the Land Beavers, King of the Rodents, Master of Marmots and the Grand Poobah of Woodchucks is, of course, the one and the only Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.  

In fact, many towns that celebrate Groundhog Day throughout our temperate continent have their own burrowing forecasters including, Smith Lake Jake, Staten Island Chuck, Shubenacadie Sam and Wiarton Willie.

The preservation of these regional celebrities is undeniably a display of faith in the power of the groundhog to predict the weather forecast for the next six weeks.

AGA cannot speculate if a groundhog can predict the weather.  We can, however, remind consumers that natural gas, come snow or sun, will save you money and energy. 

If spring does come early, as Phil seems to believe, you will still enjoy all the comfort and peace of mind that natural gas in the home delivers.  Perhaps you will be able to fire up your gas grill a little sooner, which will save you money and energy when cooking.

Or maybe, Phil is wrong and winter will linger.  Not to worry, friends.  Heating your house with natural gas for the remainder of winter will keep those long hot showers affordable and eco-friendly.

Let us know below what you think of Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction…is it just wishful thinking?

Posted in energy, events, Natural Gas, winter heating | Comments Off