Bree Raum Summer LIHEAP Action Day

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Bree Raum | Comments Off


Its summer, it’s hot and it’s a perfect time to raise awareness of the need for full funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP was created by Congress to help our nation’s low-income households stay warm during the winter and cool in the summer. In a depressed economy, many low-income citizens cannot afford to heat and cool their homes because of financial woes.

LIHEAP is a block grant program under which the federal government gives states annual grants to operate home energy assistance programs for low-income households, and these funds go directly to those who need it most. Every year, Congress must appropriate funds for LIHEAP, and for the past two years, Congress has funded LIHEAP at the fully authorized level of $5.1 billion. Even with funding at $5.1 billion, only 1 in 5 eligible low-income households are served by the program. In February, the Obama administration released the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budget for government spending, which recommended a total of only $3.3 billion for the FY 2011 LIHEAP.  With the need for LIHEAP at a record high, the administration’s proposed reduction in LIHEAP funding is disappointing.

AGA is actively lobbying Congress to appropriate at least $5.1 billion in FY 2011 for LIHEAP. But with a very tight budget, we need to convince Congress to fully fund this important program. That is why AGA, along with our utility members and other organizations are getting together on Wednesday, July 28th for Summer LIHEAP Action Day. During this event, we will travel to Capitol Hill to meet with Members of Congress and lobby for full funding of LIHEAP.

I hope you are able to join us as this event is bound to be a great one—you will hear from key Congressional members regarding legislative updates and the latest information about the LIHEAP funding issue. For more details, please visit the Summer LIHEAP Action Day web site. Or click here to register online.

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Jennifer O'Shea MIT Sees Natural Gas in Your Future…

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Jennifer O'Shea | 1 Comment


On Friday, June 25, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) released a preliminary study entitled “The Future of Natural Gas” that explores the impact natural gas will have on meeting the country’s long term energy needs. This initial study focuses on power generation and transportation as “these sectors represent the two most significant opportunities for additional market share for natural gas.” The final report, however, will cover all demand sectors including residential and commercial markets. As you might imagine, we especially look forward to seeing what MIT finds with regard to this critical sector.

MIT found that natural gas usage will double—increasing from 20 to 40 percent—over the next several decades, and that the “versatility of natural gas and its environmental performance relative to other fossil fuels enhances its desirability in a carbon-constrained environment, particularly in the near to midterm.” The MIT team of researchers was led by Ernest Moniz, a physics professor and director of the MIT Energy Initiative.

This study has been two years in the making, but even before this research was deep underway, MIT was a proponent of natural gas, and they are currently working on developing new ways to employ natural gas to generate power.

We agree that there are a lot of great opportunities to put natural gas to greater use to more cleanly meet our country’s energy needs. We look forward to the final report.

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Chris Hogan Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Chris Hogan | Comments Off


On June 30, 2010, the House passed the Conference Report on H.R. 4173, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  Senate procedures and the funeral for Senator Byrd (D-WV) will prevent a final vote until after the July 4th recess.

Natural gas utilities that use OTC derivatives to manage price volatility will not be required to conduct OTC derivatives transactions on an exchange or through a clearinghouse.  We sought to clarify certain definitions in the legislation to make the exemption more clear.   While our legislative recommendations were not included, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Dodd and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Lincoln signed a joint letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Frank and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Peterson that addresses many our concerns.  This letter was incorporated into the Congressional Record on June 30th by the two House Committee Chairmen.  This letter should provide valuable guidance to the SEC and CFTC as they develop regulations on these issues.  To view the joint letter, please click here.

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Dan Gibson Dave Parker Receives ASAE & The Center’s Highest Individual Honor for Exceptional Leadership

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Dan Gibson | Comments Off


I’m glad the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) will be recognizing Dave with the Key Award at their annual meeting in Los Angeles this August for his accomplishments as the leader of AGA and indeed his career. Too often, people do great work and never really get the recognition they deserve.

I’ve been at AGA for almost two years now and have nothing but good things to say about Dave. The thing about AGA is there are a lot of people that have been here a very long time. Always a good sign when you’re thinking about where you want to spend your day during a job search. When you talk to those people they talk about the way Dave handled the transition of AGA from a much larger organization based in Virginia to a much leaner organization based in DC.

One of the first stories they’ll tell you is how Dave configured the AGA space to be entirely open to improve communication. There are only five people with offices at AGA (they need them for HR/legal reasons). Dave isn’t one of them. He sits at a desk two spaces over. If I stand up right now, I can see his desk. It’s been great to be able to sit so close and hear some of the conversations he has. Very valuable. It’s not so great if I want to take a slightly longer lunch. Of course, since Dave tells me he reads every blog post, he knows I’m only joking and I never take a long lunch. Right, Dave?

Dave announced his retirement plans back in February. We’ll certainly miss him when he finally leaves but he’s made sure to put plans in place so AGA keeps moving ahead with purpose. I’ve pulled some quotes from that article so he can tell you about his time at AGA in his own words.

“It has been a wonderful 13 years. I am extremely proud of all that the AGA team has accomplished.  When I became president in 1997 I pledged that we would raise our voice, increase our visibility and provide outstanding value to the membership, and I believe we have succeeded in all three of those goals.  On Capitol Hill and at the agencies that regulate our industry, AGA is considered an honest broker, a reliable partner and a knowledgeable source of information on all issues of importance to the natural gas utility. The dedication and commitment of the entire AGA leadership to this association has been the real key to our success.  I have enjoyed working with every one of our members.”

On AGA staff.  “I have never worked with a finer group of professionals. Over the years, as we streamlined operations and reduced staff, AGA team members took on more responsibility, yet the quality of the work only increased.  Thanks to them, AGA will always be one of America’s most influential and effective trade associations.”

Congrats Dave. We’ve still got him for at least until the end of the year so I’m sure we’ll have some more posts like this one. Feel free to leave Dave a message below. You can certainly send him an email but if you leave the comment here, everyone can see it.

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