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On April 19, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to examine energy-related challenges and opportunities in remote and rural areas of the United States. Although a number of the witnesses and discussion were focused on electricity-related issues, APGA submitted testimony that addresses the benefits that the direct-use of natural gas can provide to rural areas.

In its testimony, APGA stated that increasing natural gas access in rural communities will lower energy bills for both homeowners and businesses, while alleviating potential delivery interruptions often associated with propane, oil and electricity. The testimony also communicated that the stable cost of natural gas improves the ability of farmers and agricultural producers to accurately budget future energy cost. One of the biggest challenges to serving rural communities is lowering the initial infrastructure cost for end users, also known as “last mile” programs. Due to state and local laws and policies, natural gas utilities must recoup all of the costs associated with expanding into new areas and this can be difficult in rural areas where lower population density increases the cost per customer. APGA’s testimony urges the committee to explore how the federal government can help lower these costs for farmers and other agribusinesses that are often high energy users.

A copy of APGA’s testimony is available on the APGA website.

For questions on this article, please contact Dave Schryver or Dan Lapato of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email dschryver@apga.or. and dlapato@apga.org.