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 The current natural gas infrastructure—transmission and distribution pipelines—must be expanded to meet the growing demands for natural gas.
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The U.S. relies on natural gas for nearly one-quarter of its energy needs.
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Homes, businesses, industries, and electric power generators are projected to increase their combined consumption of natural gas 20 percent by 2030.
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While natural gas-only-fired power plants account for 19 percent of the fuel used for all generation nationwide, 92 percent of the new electric capacity built in the last 10 years use natural gas as their primary, and in many cases, only fuel.
Natural Gas Transmission Pipelines
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Natural gas moves through a nationwide network of 280,000 miles of transmission pipelines. These pipelines move natural gas from regions where it is produced, such as the Gulf of Mexico, to market areas.
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Eighty-five percent of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. is produced domestically, and almost all the remainder of our supply is imported from Canada. New North American supplies and infrastructure need to be developed for the future, especially in those areas that are currently restricted or off limits in the Rocky Mountains and the Atlantic and Pacific coastal areas.
Natural Gas Distribution Pipelines
- Distribution pipelines comprise the largest and most familiar part of the 1.4 million-mile natural gas delivery system.
- According to the National Petroleum Council, natural gas distribution utilities must construct more than 255,000 miles of new pipeline-enough to go roundtrip between New York and Los Angeles more than 50 times-in order to bring natural gas to consumers, expanding the current distribution system by about 25 percent.2
- Additionally, utilities must sustain a spending level of about $5 billion per year-for each of the next 20 years-to build the distribution pipelines that will bring natural gas to homes and businesses.3
1Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2007, DOE/EIA — 0383 (2007), December 2006.
2National Petroleum Council, Meeting the Challenge of the Nation's Growing Natural Gas Demand, December 1999.
3Ibid.
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