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Ending permitting gridlock—not scaling back the growth of U.S. liquefied natural gas exports—will lead to lower energy prices for consumers, EQT Corporation President and CEO and NAM board member Toby Rice told Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) this week.

• This week is a big week for permitting reform advocacy, with the NAM releasing a groundbreaking report yesterday on the costs of permitting for manufacturers, called “ America on Hold: How Permitting Delays Stall Manufacturing Progress.”

EQT’s message: “We strongly agree with the goal of keeping energy affordable and reliable for citizens of the United States,” Rice told Sen. Warren on Tuesday.

• “EQT Corporation worked toward this goal for decades. We disagree, however, with the characterization that the growth in exports of liquefied natural gas is the cause of the high utility bills being experienced by Americans.”
• Rice’s comments follow a letter from Sen. Warren and eight other senators last month to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, pressing the Department of Energy “to reconsider its plan to increase LNG exports while Americans face higher utility and gas prices.”

LNG is the solution: The United States has some of the lowest electricity prices in the world, and a good deal of the credit is owed to natural gas, Rice said.

• “Not only did the boom allow the United States to maintain its energy independence, it unlocked such an abundance of low-cost natural gas that the United States began to export in the form of LNG, almost exactly 10 years ago today,” he said.
• “And even with the growing export of LNG, U.S. natural gas prices today remain below the 20-year average price of approximately $4.00/MMBtu.”

America needs infrastructure: Energy costs in the U.S. have risen recently because the energy system is under immense strain—much of which is owed to a lack of energy infrastructure, Rice said, pointing to the particularly high prices in New England.

• “The increase in the frequency and scale of the price spikes seen of late in New England are demonstrating that the system is highly stressed,” he told the senator. “A well-functioning system does not see annual and increasing price spikes of the magnitude being experienced in New England.”
• In total, the region blocked “every major interstate pipeline seeking to provide [it] with incremental natural gas volumes … four in total.”

Information campaign: EQT Corporation recently launched a new resource, “ Energy Affordability in America: Why Is Electricity So Expensive?”, to educate consumers about the reasons for high utility bills.

What must be done: To reduce energy costs nationwide, “we need to adopt comprehensive permitting reform,” Rice said.

• “We have to get back to a place where we can build critical infrastructure on a cost-effective basis. That does not happen without permit[ting] reform. And in New England, the affordability (and reliability) issues will not be solved unless and until new pipeline infrastructure is constructed.”