In a CNBC column this week, world-renowned energy expert Daniel Yergin laid out the clear facts about safe, job-creating American shale gas. Put simply, according to Dr. Yergin, shale gas is “the biggest innovation so far in the 21st century.” Here’s what they’re saying about the responsible development of tightly-regulated domestic natural gas and its environmental and economic benefits:

INCREASED NATIONAL SECURITY, CONSUMER SAVINGS

  • “The U.S. Shale Gas Revolution ‘Virtually Guarantees’ the End of Oil’s Monopoly”: [Ed] Morse [commodities guru at Citi] expects the lower gas prices and plentiful supplies unleashed by the U.S. shale revolution to lead to the adoption of compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas vehicles. … Morse said the process would be encouraged by governments capping natural gas prices and by the environmental advantages of burning gas instead of oil. “New trends, each building momentum and reinforcing one another, virtually guarantee that natural gas will make inroads into petroleum’s monopoly hold of the transportation fuel market,” Mr. Morse said in a research note released on Tuesday. (Financial Times, 6/3/13)
  • “Move Over, OPEC”: Things are getting interesting vis a vis OPEC and the U.S. shale industry. The once-omnipotent oil cartel is taking serious notice of the impact of the shale boom on global oil prices and markets. As well it should. … It’s turning out that natural gas from shale is the true bonanza wrought by hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the two technologies that have given this country access to one hundred-plus year supplies of energy almost overnight. Since 1992, expanded use of natural gas by the nation’s electric utilities has dropped greenhouse gas pollution by 20 percent. Expansion of the use of environmentally friendly natural gas into this nation’s huge transportation sector is in its toddler stages. The possibilities here are enormous – and threatening if you are a global energy cartel beset by internal disagreements over where to set production levels. (Houston Chronicle editorial, 6/4/13)
  • Natural Gas “Drives Down Electricity Prices at their Most Expensive Times”: New natural gas power plants coming on line and an increase of imported electricity from the Midwest are reducing capacity prices, Andrew Ott, senior vice president of markets at PJM, said in a statement. … the energy purchased for peak times helps ensure the lights stay on and the air conditioners running at times when everyone is using them. Atlantic City Electric and other New Jersey electric utilities buy much of their regular wholesale energy from suppliers at auctions every February. “One of the biggest impacts on electric generation is the low price of natural gas as a fuel. It makes gas-fired generation more attractive to build because of the cost,” Dotter said. … In Atlantic City Electric’s region, the price per megawatt dropped about 29 percent from last year’s auction, which will not take effect until 2015. (Press of Atlantic City, 6/2/13)
  • “Robust Supplies of Shale Gas” Hold Down Utility Rates for Consumers: Residential natural gas rates in Philadelphia and New Jersey are holding steady or decreasing, thanks to continued robust supplies of shale gas. Philadelphia Gas Works said residential rates for the next three months will decrease 2.6 percent on Saturday, from $1.54 to $1.49 per hundred cubic feet. The decrease equates to savings of $37.64 per year. Public Service Electric & Gas Co. in New Jersey announced Friday its rates would remain unchanged on Oct. 1 through the winter. And South Jersey Gas on Friday proposed a 4.5 percent rate reduction that would save residential customers about $6 a month. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/31/13)

CLEAN, ABUNDANT NATURAL GAS POWERING AMERICA

  • More CNG Fueling Options for Consumers, Small Businesses: This is the first compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station for Vogel Disposal, one of the largest independent haulers in Western Pennsylvania, with a fleet of over 300 vehicles. “Moving to CNG was the right thing to do for us,” said Vogel Vice President, Doug Vogel … “We’re generating about 8,000 diesel gallon equivalent per day, and our plan is to eventually fuel our trucks with our own natural gas,” said Vogel. … The station currently fuels Vogel’s 10 CNG garbage trucks, but was built with the capability to fuel up to 70 trucks – which is part of Vogel’s expansion plan. “We run 70 units out of this location and our plan is to replace them with CNG units at the rate of about 10 trucks each year,” said Vogel, adding that another station is also in the long-range plan for a location about 40 miles from Vogel’s Mars operation. “CNG makes sense for Vogel, both in terms of dollars – and in terms of our responsibility to the environment. Eventually fueling our trucks with gas generated from our landfill will be a win-win for Vogel.” (Press Release, 6/4/13)
  • Ohio Continues to Expand CNG Availability for Consumers: A Columbus based company has announced plans to construct and operate the Valley’s first CNG service station. In a partnership with Mr. Fuel, IGS Energy plans to invest about two million dollars to build a small compression station at the site on Salt Springs Road and Interstate 80 and add CNG fueling next to the diesel pumps. … Because natural gas is abundant, clean and produced domestically there is an emerging demand for CNG especially among businesses that want to save up to 50% per gallon. “We’re currently retailing CNG for $1.99 for a gas gallon equivalent and nationally we’re seeing an average of about $2.10,” Mrowzinski said. General Motors offers vans and pickup trucks that operate on either CNG or gas. … “If you run out of your natural gas it will seamlessly switch over to use gasoline,” Mrowzinski said. IGS says this new station marks the beginning of its plans for a network of CNG fueling stations. (WFMJ-TV, 6/4/13)
  • Volunteer State Consumers Get Access to Clean, Affordable CNG: Athens has just joined an elite club, one that sources it’s citizen’s fuel from the U.S. rather than overseas. Wayne Scarbrough, Athens Utility Board, “This is an American product that’s produced here, that will stay here, we are not going to be relying on foreign oil if more and more people can switch over to domestic energy and fuel sources.” … With UPS confirming hundreds of natural gas trucks will travel our roads in the coming 18 months, Athen’s pumps are ready to fuel their fleet as well as trucks and cars across the South. The station is being added to GPS and Sat Nav’s to boost its presence and the Athenian Utilities fleet will be switching to CNG in the coming months. (WDEF-TV, 6/1/13)

FAR-REACHING GLOBAL IMPACT 

  • Common Sense LNG Exports Could Create 500k American Jobs: “Our view is that the [Sec.] Moniz review is most likely to be short and lead to the same conclusion as many reviewers of the issue — that LNG exports will provide a net benefit to the U.S,” Whitney Stanco, an energy analyst at Guggenheim Securities’ Washington Research Group, wrote in a research note last week. … In Europe, [natural gas prices] are three times higher than in the U.S. In Japan they’re nearly five times as high. …  “There are ample domestic supplies of natural gas to meet future demand without significant price increases,” the Bipartisan Policy Center wrote in a recent report. “[DOE] should say yes, within prudent limits, and leverage U.S. exports for broader gain,” Michael Levi, an energy expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a research paper. … The industry says it has launched more than 100 new projects in recent years specifically designed to take advantage of America’s low natural gas prices, investing billions of dollars and creating 500,000 new jobs. (CNN, 6/4/13)
  • Fmr. Top White House Advisor: LNG Exports “Benefit U.S. Economy, National Security”: [The Obama administration] should continue to approve natural gas exports on both economic and geopolitical grounds. An independent study commissioned by the Department of Energy found that LNG exports would boost U.S. economic growth and average household income. … Exports would spur higher natural-gas production, supporting jobs in theindustry, in the construction of export terminals and in the supply chain — like a new steel mill that opened in Ohio. Exports will also improve the U.S. balance of payments. … Encouraging increased global trade in gas fosters more competition, driving down prices that historically have been linked to the price of oil overseas. … The net economic benefits of gas exports outweigh any harm, as the Department of Energy reaffirmed.  … The boom in North American oil production means that natural gas is just the beginning. The U.S. will surpass Saudi Arabia in total liquid fuel production this year. … The president has a goal of doubling exports, recognizing the broad economic consensus that free trade leads to faster economic growth.  Energy should be no different. Increasing global energy market integration will benefit both the U.S. economy and our national security. (The Hill op-ed, 6/4/13)
  • American Shale Gas has “Changed the Game”: LNG exporters are eager to capitalize on the U.S.’s ridiculously abundant supply. Consider: Since 2010, U.S. natural-gas production from the three major shale fields has risen 250 percent. … Congressional hearings and government and private studies have parsed the economic benefits of exporting natural gas. … Modern technology has made the U.S. the world’s fastest-growing producer of oil and natural gas. … We’ve been looking for a manufacturing- and small-business-driven economic revolution. Well, it’s here. … The hydrocarbon boom has already started to take a whack out of the staggering, job-killing U.S. trade deficit. It has stimulated $150 billion in foreign direct investment in hydrocarbon fields in the past four years alone — a free foreign stimulus. And there will be a total of $5 trillion more in cumulative investment over the coming decade. The boom has already generated millions of jobs and sent billions in revenues to state and federal treasuries. … Imagine what could be done if Washington decided to flip the intellectual framework from delay, oppose, and control to accelerate, encourage, and unleash. (National Review op-ed, 6/4/13)

And recently, Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) CEO Kathryn Klaber discussed these benefits, along with other natural gas-related issues, on E&E TV. Click HERE to view the segment. Have natural gas-related questions? Please visit LearnAboutShale.org for fact-based information. And follow us on Twitter (@MarcellusGas) and like our Facebook page for updates on how natural gas is Powering an American Renaissance.