Regardless of who wins this week’s presidential election, SanDiego-based Sempra Energy advocates an expanded national energypolicy and development of sufficient pipeline upgrades to ensurethat the nation’s gas infrastructure can support all of the newnatural gas-fired electric generating plants that are underconstruction or in development throughout the nation.

Sempra CEO Stephen Baum and other company officials are tellinganyone who will listen that the renewed focus on gas in the U.S.energy policy-making arena is an extension of the fact that 50proposed new power plants in the West are all slated to be naturalgas-fired. Power plants are the principal reason that gas use isprojected to grow by 30% by 2010, Baum told Sempra employees in arecent company publication.

While emphasizing that like the electricity markets, there areno “quick fixes” to natural gas’s current situation, Sempra istouting three actions: