Full Title: Pennsylvania's Gas Decade: Insights Into Consumer Pricing Impacts From Shale Gas (2007–2016)
Author(s): Christina Simeone
Publisher(s): Kleinman Center for Energy Policy
Publication Date: October 1, 2017
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Description (excerpt):
The first section of this paper provides a brief overview of the significance of Pennsylvania shale gas to national gas production, and the increased interest in building pipeline infrastructure to move shale gas out of Pennsylvania that has ensued. Section 2 presents an overview of Pennsylvania natural gas distribution companies (NGDCs), which are critical to delivering gas to consumers and meaningful to end-use consumer pricing. Section 3 details Pennsylvania’s long history of promoting competition in the natural gas industry, beginning with policies to allow gas-on-gas competition in western Pennsylvania, to facilitating transportation and bypass policy, and finally through promoting retail competition for natural gas supply. Section 4 compares national and state natural gas usage trends, which have been significantly impacted by cheap and abundant natural gas supply. Section 5 compares national and state price trends broadly and by customer class, including developing a proxy approach to understanding private natural gas contract pricing. Section 6 reviews historic data on NGDC purchased gas cost rates, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PA PUC) approved rates utilities charge customers for gas commodity costs. Section 7 reviews historic data about NGDC delivery rates for various customer classes, to better understand how these charges are affecting retail prices to consumers. Section 8 reviews Universal Service program impacts resulting from lower commodity prices. Section 9 presents report conclusions and key questions about consumer pricing for the future.