Barrasso Leads Bill to Fight Cost Increases and Protect Reliability for Electric and Natural Gas Service

U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, was joined by Senators Steve Daines (R-MT) and Roger Marshall (R-KS)  Wednesday in introducing the Ensuring National Security Using Reliable Energy Act. According to Barrasso, the legislation is intended to stop the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s recent policy statements that apply to natural gas pipelines and related infrastructure from going into effect until natural gas and electric reliability is secure and electricity and natural gas prices have stabilized.

Barrasso said FERC’s destructive new policies will make it nearly impossible to build or upgrade any natural gas infrastructure – they will choke the world’s most efficient and safe natural gas delivery network and his legislation will stop that from happening. Barrasso added the ENSURE Act will protect the availability of American energy and guard against even higher energy prices for American families and it will allow American energy to heat our homes, power our industries, and keep the lights on.

On February 15, Barrasso sent a letter to FERC calling on the Commissioners to protect the reliability and affordability of American energy and not delay natural gas infrastructure projects. On March 3,the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a full committee hearing to review recent actions of FERC relating to permitting construction, operation of interstate natural gas pipelines, and other natural gas infrastructure projects.