BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 26, 2020
Over the past five years, the price of natural gas has fallen by 33 percent. Yet residential electricity prices are up 5 percent during the same time. The costs of renewable energy projects are one reason. Renewable energy activists have used legal challenges to pipeline expansions to cut off natural gas to states and regions. This raises electricity costs in places that rely on natural gas but are far away from where it is produced. As wind and solar power are intermittent, having baseload natural gas is important. Our poor are facing tough economic times. The expanded use of natural gas will benefit our economy and our environment. Perhaps most important, it will help those who are least fortunate. ~ Paul Steidler, Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank based in Virginia