From heating homes and powering businesses to manufacturing fertilizers, plastics, and countless everyday products, natural gas plays an essential role in our nation’s as well as Pennsylvania’s economy.

While global natural gas prices have surged in recent months amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, American consumers continue to benefit from one of the nation’s greatest energy success stories: the shale gas revolution.

A new study from the University of California Berkeley’s Energy Institute finds that abundant U.S. shale gas has saved American consumers between $4.5 trillion and $5.3 trillion since 2007.

That translates to roughly $237 billion to $276 billion in savings each year.

These findings bring into focus how domestic natural gas continues to provide affordable and reliable energy to families, small businesses, and manufacturers across the Commonwealth. Commenting on the research, Marcellus Shale Coalition president Jim Welty said:

“This new report lays out what we’ve known, and the data has clearly supported, for some time: the safe development of our abundant, clean-burning natural gas has been and continues to be an essential source of energy affordability for American consumers.

“Not only is record domestic natural gas production providing critical savings to families, but it’s also helping to ensure our nation’s energy-intensive industries and manufacturers can invest and grow jobs in America.

“Along with common sense permitting reforms and policies that promote the development and distribution of domestic natural gas, these revolutionary economic benefits can be realized even more broadly, benefiting all American consumers while also delivering national energy dominance.”

The Shale Gas Revolution

Two decades ago, the United States was preparing to import growing volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet rising demand. Domestic natural gas production had been largely flat, and federal regulators had approved numerous new LNG import terminals.

Then shale gas changed everything.

Advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling unlocked vast natural gas resources in Pennsylvania and other producing regions. Since 2007, U.S. natural gas production has nearly doubled, transforming the nation from a net importer of natural gas into the world’s largest producer and exporter.

The benefits continue to grow. According to new research from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, dry natural gas production increased more than 4% in 2025 to a record 39 trillion cubic feet, with much of the growth occurring in the Appalachian Basin. Pennsylvania’s own production increased by over 5% year-over-year and now supplies nearly 20% of the nation’s total production.

Natural Gas Keeps Prices Affordable

Before the shale revolution, natural gas prices in the United States closely tracked prices in Europe and Japan. Since 2007, that relationship has changed dramatically.

The Energy Institute study found that every single month between 2007 and 2025, U.S. natural gas prices were below or equal to prices in both Europe and Japan. On average, American consumers paid about $9 less per thousand cubic feet than consumers in Europe and $11 less than consumers in Japan.

Even as international prices surged following recent conflicts and supply disruptions, U.S. natural gas prices remained near $3 per thousand cubic feet, roughly one-sixth of prices in Europe and Japan.

Savings Across the Economy

The benefits of affordable natural gas extend far beyond monthly heating bills.

The study found that 39% of total savings flowed to electric power customers, helping keep electricity prices lower for households and businesses. The remaining 61% benefited residential, commercial, and industrial consumers directly.

 

Because natural gas is a critical input for electricity generation and manufacturing, these savings ripple throughout the economy. Lower natural gas prices help reduce the cost of producing steel, cement, plastics, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and countless other products Americans use every day. And increased use of natural gas for power generation has reduced emissions by historic levels, which some key criteria pollutants down 98% since 2005.

In other words, nearly every American has benefited from the shale revolution.

A Foundation for the Future

Pennsylvania has been at the center of this transformation. As the nation’s second largest natural gas-producing state, Pennsylvania supplies affordable energy to homes and businesses across the Commonwealth and throughout the nation. Pennsylvania is the largest exporter of electricity in the nation, helping to heat and power the homes and businesses of surrounding states.

The shale gas revolution has helped the United States achieve record energy production, lower costs for consumers, and greater resilience in the face of global disruptions. For Pennsylvanians, the benefits are felt every day through lower utility bills, expanded manufacturing opportunities, and a more secure energy future.

As families across the Commonwealth heat their homes, businesses power their operations, and manufacturers produce essential goods, Pennsylvania natural gas continues to deliver what matters most: affordable, reliable, and American-made energy.