PULP Calls on DOE to Prioritize Local Consumer Impacts in Gas Export Policies, Joined By Other Consumer Groups

On November 21st, 2024, the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project, alongside the Consumer Advocate of Pennsylvania, Community Legal Services, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, Community Action Association of Pennsylvania, and the National Consumer Law Center sent a letter to the Department of Energy urging it to revise the public interest standard applied to decisions about gas exports.

As overseas gas export levels increase, it is having a profound impact on the cost Pennsylvanians pay for energy. When gas prices spiked in 2022 following high levels of exports, low income Pennsylvanians bore the brunt of the harm – with involuntary terminations increasing 40% year over year. It is critical that DOE consider local impacts to energy affordability and security when determining whether to approve expansion of gas exports to world markets.

On behalf of the millions of Pennsylvania consumers our groups collectively represent, our letter called on DOE to adopt a distributional analysis of retail-level energy prices and energy burdens for residential and commercial customers when determining whether to approve new liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities. We believe that the Department must prioritize energy affordability and security at the local level – ensuring families and small businesses in Pennsylvania, and across our nation, are able to access and afford safe, stable energy services to power their homes and businesses.

To read the letter, click here.

To learn more about gas export impacts in Pennsylvania, check out this report by our partners at Public Citizen.