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Some States Enjoy Lower Costs already limited natural gas availability is sought for
both space heating and electricity generation. This
There were some bright spots in states that have growing imbalance between supply and demand
seen a reduction in average cost: drives up consumer costs.
• North Dakota : 5.55% decrease over 3 years, By the numbers: Natural gas prices in cities like
11.89% over 5 years Boston and New York are 160% higher than the
• Nebraska : 0.22% decrease over 5 years national average during peak months.
• Louisiana : 1.59% decrease over 3 years
• New Mexico : 5.49% decrease over 3 years Did you know? 55% of New England’s electricity
last year came from natural gas. A study
In addition to these four states, others such as released this year by S&P Global sponsored
Utah, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Iowa, Idaho, and by the Chamber showed that expanding gas
Arkansas enjoy the nation’s lowest prices, all pipeline capacity into New York and New England
landing under 10¢/kWh. would reduce consumers’ natural gas prices by
27% and 17% respectively, with even greater
Prolonged Price Stability in Energy savings gained during winter. Lower gas prices =
lower costs for electricity.
Producing States
Our take: “Residents in New York and New
Looking back 昀椀ve years, some states have held England are paying the highest energy prices in
their longer-term price trends well below the the country due to the choices of elected of昀椀cials
nation’s overall average increase during that to stop the kind of pipeline projects that exist
period. New Mexico, Iowa, Alaska, and Utah have almost everywhere else in the country,” said Marty
shown remarkable stability in electricity prices, Durbin, president of the U.S. Chamber’s Global
all holding 5-year increases under 9%. Each Energy Institute.
of these states rank within the top 20 energy
producing states, helping to insulate them from “If built,” Durbin added, “businesses and families
the scarcity that can result from rising demand. would see immediate and lasting price relief instead
This consistency is a positive sign for consumers in of escalating prices that will only get worse.”
these states, providing a buffer against the broader
trend of rising costs. The bottom line: Addressing these pipeline
bottlenecks – through improved permitting processes
Northeast and California Face Elevated Rates at both the state and federal levels – is crucial for
Electricity prices are highest in Hawaii, California, bringing more low-cost resources to consumers.
Alaska, New York, and across New England, with
rates in each exceeding 18¢/kWh. California is Our Recommendations
closing in on the 30¢/kWh threshold, a dubious
placement considering that only Hawaii comes in
with higher electricity rates. As U.S. power demand is set to soar, maintaining a
reliable and affordable electricity supply is truly an
“all hands-on deck” exercise.
Longer term trends for California, New York, and
most New England states also illustrate signi昀椀cant
electricity price increases. Over the past 昀椀ve Permit America to Build: Modernizing broken
years, California experienced a meteoric 58.45% permitting processes and a sensible timeline for
increase, New York went up 36.62%, and New legal challenges to projects could accelerate the
construction of new renewable, natural gas, and
England residents saw anything from 20% to nearly nuclear generation resources, while also unleashing
40% increases in their electricity bills. Combined
with state policies that put upward pressure on the construction of the linear pipeline and transmission
energy prices, these increases are enhanced by infrastructure necessary for their operation.
Meanwhile, existing generation resources must not be
a con昀氀uence of increasing energy demand and
arti昀椀cially tightened energy supplies, often driven prematurely shuttered due to unrealistic regulatory
by infrastructure pressures. standards or aspirational state goals that primarily
serve to reduce our energy options.
Northeast Prices Soar Due to Looking ahead: While increasing electricity
Limited Infrastructure prices have generally been the rule as of late, a
coordinated effort to support new infrastructure
State policies that constrain the supply of natural while also respecting the contributions of what
gas to New York and New England continue to powers today’s grid can help moderate the
force electricity prices higher. Moreover, the imbalance of supply and demand while tempering
ongoing electri昀椀cation of heating systems is the prices we pay for the electricity essential to
shifting peak electricity demand to winter, when power our lives.
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