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Wyden Considering Legislation to Promote NatGas
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, may consider legislation to promote natural gas after his panel has completed its trio of gas forums this month, a spokesman for the committee told NGI.
“If possible, he will be looking at the areas where legislation is needed,” said Wyden spokesman Keith Chu. “He doesn’t have a bill written now…He’s having conversations [with]…all the folks affected by natural gas,” including consumers, manufacturers, government agencies and other members of Congress.
If Wyden pursues legislation, it would come after the two remaining forums on natural gas are completed. The first one on Tuesday focused on creating a fueling infrastructure for natural gas vehicles (NGV) (see Daily GPI, May 15). A second forum, scheduled for Tuesday (May 21) will address the “potential benefits or unintended consequences” of gas exports. The third and final forum will be on Thursday (May 23) and will focus on shale gas extraction practices.
A working group has been created by industry to find creative ways to lower methane emissions and consumer costs, increase the use of NGVs and find innovative solutions to update gas-related infrastructure. An estimated 60% of the nation’s pipelines were built at least 40 years ago.
“My aim is to look at what can be done to address the infrastructure issues hindering wide use of natural gas, beyond just fleets. In addition, I would hope the group could tackle environmental concerns such as fugitive emissions,” Wyden said. “This may or may not require legislation,” he said at the roundtable, where 12 energy and regulatory officials spoke.
He asked the group, which is being headed up by Northwest Natural CEO Gregg Kantor and GE Power & Water President Steve Bolze, to present its findings to the Senate energy panel this summer. The two men said the group plans to begin meeting by June.
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