Before the House Consumer Affairs Committee

Hearing on House Bill 107 Legislation Authorizing a Gas Service Extension Charge

Testimony of
Terrance J. Fitzpatrick, President & CEO
Energy Association of Pennsylvania
April 26, 2017

Good morning Chairman Godshall, Chairman Caltagirone and members of the House Consumer Affairs Committee. I am Terry Fitzpatrick, President and CEO of the Energy Association of Pennsylvania (“EAP” or “Association”), a trade association comprised of electric and natural gas utilities operating in Pennsylvania. Thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today to testify on behalf of EAP’s gas utility members1 regarding House Bill 107, which would authorize gas utilities to seek approval from the Public Utility Commission to implement a “distribution system extension charge.”

As you know, the energy outlook in Pennsylvania has changed dramatically in the past decade due to the development of gas supplies from Marcellus Shale. Pennsylvania is now second only to Texas in natural gas production in the United States. With the influx of these new supplies, prices have dropped and wholesale natural gas prices in the region are less than half of what they were a decade ago. The impact of these new supplies has rippled across our economy since gas has multiple uses: home heating and cooking, commercial and industrial uses, and—increasingly— generating electricity.