A natural gas industry study scheduled for release in mid-July says that a two-year delay in building gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals will cost U.S. gas consumers more than $200 billion by 2020.

This is one of the major conclusions of an 80- to 90-page report, which was commissioned by The INGAA Foundation and will be released on July 20, said Martin Edwards, vice president of legislative affairs for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA). It also will identify the regions of the country where pipeline and storage capacity is needed, as well as the amount of existing pipeline capacity that has to be replaced to maintain capacity at its existing level, he noted.

“The preliminary results [of the study] are startling,” said INGAA President Donald Santa Jr. in late June during a hearing of the House Government Reform Committee’s subcommittee on energy policy, which examined the construction and siting of LNG projects, the ongoing federal-state jurisdictional dispute and safety/security concerns associated with LNG facilities.

“Your own home state of California alone would experience increased natural gas costs of almost $30 billion over that period” if pipelines and LNG projects are delayed or cancelled, he told Committee Chairman Doug Ose (R-CA).

“And, of course, should the end result be that certain facilities are never constructed, the economic effect would be even more severe,” Santa warned members of the House panel.

“These large and capital-intensive projects will be constructed only if there is a rational process for reviewing and siting these facilities. Delays and detours are costly, both to project sponsors and ultimately to consumers, and in some cases the cumulative effect can be fatal to a project,” he said.

“We believe that the FERC provides an appropriate and inclusive forum for authorizing onshore LNG import terminals” rather than the states. “If anything, FERC’s authority in these matters should be enhanced by Congress, to send a clear message as to the national importance of building natural gas infrastructure on a timely, responsible basis,” Santa noted.

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