AGA chair highlights domestic economy progress though growth of natural gas developments

Pierce Norton, the 2017 chair of the Board of the American Gas Association (AGA), spoke recently to the New York Society of Security Analysts about the growth and benefits of natural gas.

During the event, Norton highlighted how natural gas growth has transformed the energy environment and how low prices and high demand from customers has helped push this growth forward. Commercial customers have not seen natural gas prices this low in 40 years.

“The United States has done a tremendous job of safely and efficiently capitalizing on the abundance of natural gas supply, and we are on track to continue moving forward with a natural gas strategy to meet the nation’s energy needs and goals,” Norton, also the president and CEO of Oklahoma gas utility ONE Gas Inc., said.

Norton also spoke about an AGA report to be released later this month that analyzes diversity in the commercial sector of the natural gas market. Households that use natural gas for heating, cooking and clothes drying save an average of $874 per year compared to customers who use electricity for those applications.

“Focusing on ways to upgrade, grow and invest in our infrastructure will enable more residential customers to access affordable energy, while allowing businesses to operate more profitably when energy costs are important to their bottom line,” Norton said.

Norton plans to work on building a platform and advocating for natural gas for domestic use by focusing primarily on the safety and reliability of natural gas service.