House stumps for natural gas infrastructure

WASHINGTON, May 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee says it's time to build domestic natural gas infrastructure before winter energy demands increase.

The committee said legislation passed in the House in late 2013 -- the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Act -- would facilitate the construction of gas pipeline infrastructure needed to keep supplies moving when demand is at its highest.

"Even as we enter the hot summer months, we know winter will come again soon," a committee statement read Monday. "And the only way to bring down heating prices in the future is to build new infrastructure now."

The bill would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to make a decision on new pipelines within 12 months. Detractors of the measure said FERC already acts quickly and, if passed in the Senate, the bill would do little to address high heating costs across the board.

Nevertheless, the House committee, chaired by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., said "it's well-past time for the Senate to act" on the measure to keep prices lower.

The price for natural gas peaked in 2014 in February at $5.16 per million British thermal units, the highest monthly average in four years, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports.