Thanks Fracking: Natural Gas Boom Lowers Energy Bills By 41%
Even as Hollywood prepares to launch a cinematic assault on fracking by way of a Matt Damon movie – funded by a foreign energy cartel – the oil and gas boom made possible by fracking is lowering energy rates around the nation.
Case in point, Pennsylvania, where consumers are enjoying as much as a 41% drop in energy prices from a few years ago:
For consumers, expanded natural-gas production from the Marcellus Shale is leading to lower, more affordable energy costs. And as more clean-burning natural gas is safely produced, more consumer savings will be realized.
Inquirer headlines over the years underscore this shift: “PGW Seeks 12 Percent Rate Hike,” June 1990; “PGW Gas Rates To Rise By About 24 Percent,” November, 2000; “Lower-income customers especially anxious about PGW hike,” October, 2005.
The headlines changed after Marcellus Shale production began in 2005 “Shale gas is shaving bills,” December, 2011; and “PGW announces lower natural gas rates,” June 2012.
As further proof of this positive impact, the region’s largest natural gas utilities – PECO, NFG, PGW, Columbia, Equitable, UGI, UGI Penn, and Peoples – averaged a 41.25 percent cut in rates for consumers from 2008 to 2011, equating to nearly $3,200 in average savings per customer during that period.
Needless to say, this reduction in energy costs has a profound impact on our economy. Not only are there direct savings to customers, but the cost of doing business goes lower too. Manufacturing gets cheaper, etc., etc., which leads ultimately to a lower overall cost of living.
Tags: energy, fracking, oil
