OPINION:
In a rapidly evolving world, natural gas remains critical. It is foundational to accelerating development and usage of renewables while maintaining U.S. energy reliability. But as energy demand rapidly grows, infrastructure deployment must keep pace.
The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) is a trade association representing most interstate natural gas pipelines in the U.S. Approximately one-third of energy consumed in America today travels through natural gas infrastructure, and our industry’s robust design standards and strong regulatory oversight ensure our members’ infrastructure has an enviable reliability record. An INGAA member study found from 2006 to 2016, pipelines delivered 99.79% of “firm” contractual commitments. Simply put, operators delivered nearly 100% of the gas promised to customers, underscoring the dependability of our systems and members’ pledge to continuous improvement.
Alongside its demonstrated reliability, natural gas bolsters development of renewables. Its ability to meet demand when intermittent renewable sources are unavailable makes it a versatile, necessary safeguard to avoid supply interruptions.
That builds on the role natural gas has already played in reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. A recent EPA emissions report attributed the 17% drop in net emissions from 2005-2022 to increased use of natural gas. These margins are only expected to grow as our industry continues to work towards addressing emissions in pursuit of shared climate goals. INGAA members are at the forefront of this effort, with average methane emissions for transmission compression stations decreasing by 28% from 2019 to 2021. This is equivalent to removing 266,079 passenger vehicles from the road.
Energy demand, fueled in part by the AI revolution, is growing rapidly. Unfortunately, buildout of natural gas infrastructure is not keeping up: data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows interstate pipeline capacity additions have declined since 2018, totaling less than 1 billion cubic feet per day last year, while total natural gas consumption has risen by nearly 2.4 trillion cubic feet, an average of 4% annually. To ensure reliability as demand grows, we must continue investing in infrastructure to move natural gas from production to consumers.
Natural gas delivers reliable, affordable, and clean energy that powers our lives and drives innovation, but we need infrastructure to safely move it to homes and businesses across the nation. Failure to expand natural gas infrastructure is preventing us from fully realizing the incredible benefits of one of our nation’s most plentiful resources.
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• Amy Andryszak is president and CEO of the Interstate National Gas Association of America.
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