The brave individuals in Times Square on New Year’s Eve are always bundled and shivering, but this year many of us watching on television experienced the cold as well. Caught in a polar vortex, the U.S. experienced record low temperatures on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s day.
These record low temperatures in turn spurred a new record in demand for natural gas, according to Popular Mechanics:
“The New Year’s consumption tops another bitter cold snap, 2014’s polar vortex, when we burned 142 billion cubic feet in a single day. While natural gas is the most common source of electricity in America, prices dropped in 2017 by a surprising 21 percent. A mild 2017 winter decreased the need for home heating fuel and the summer wasn’t hot enough for mass air conditioner use.”
This sudden surge in demand for natural gas underscores our need for a modern, state of the art, and expansive system of pipelines across the country. Expanding our network of pipelines allows more and more people access to this important resource, which only becomes more important as the temperatures drop and the air becomes frigid. CEPI hopes to see a continued push to grow our pipeline infrastructure in order to ensure that every demand can be met.